March is the busiest month for the athletes before the Olympic Games. Swimming, table tennis, water polo, cycling, football, badminton, baseball, weightlifting, canoeing and kayaking, and hockey will all have fantastic competitions. The detailed calendar is as follows:
| Start Date | End Date | Sport / Discipline | Event | Location | NOC | Qualification |
| 1-Mar | Trampoline | FIG to inform the NFs and the NOCs of places allocated in the framework of the quota | ||||
| 1-Mar | 2-Mar | Triathon | 2008 Gold Coast ITU Triathlon Oceania Cup | Southport | AUS | |
| 1-Mar | Gymnastics Rhythmic | FIG to inform the NFs and the NOCs of places allocated in the framework of the quota | ||||
| 1-Mar | 9-Mar | Hockey | Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Santiago (CHI) | Santiago | CHI | NGOs occupying the top place will qualify. |
| 2-Mar | Water Polo | WP Men Olympic Qual Tournament | Oredea | ROU | 3 men quota places will qualify | |
| 6-Mar | 13-Mar | Table Tennis | Asia Qualification Tournament | Hong Kong | HKG | 11 singles and 1 Team |
| 6-Mar | 9-Mar | Wrestling | Senior African Championships (F, GR, W) | The first man and the first woman in each weight category will qualify | ||
| 7-Mar | 14-Mar | Baseball | Olympic Qualification Tournament | Chinese Taipei | TPE | 3 quota places will qualify |
| 8-Mar | 9-Mar | Triathon | 2008 Yasmine Hammamet ATU Triathlon African Championships | Yasmine Hammamet | TUN | |
| 8-Mar | Triathon | 2008 Valle de Bravo ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup | Valle de Bravo | MEX | ||
| 9-Mar | Triathon | 2008 Wellington OCA Triathlon Oceania Championships | Wellington | NZL | ||
| 10-Mar | 18-Mar | Boxing | AIBA 1st Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament | Port of Spain | TRI | |
| 12-Mar | 16-Mar | Canoe/Kayak Flatwater | Olympic Qualification -- Oceania | Penrith | AUS | 4 men and 1 women athlete quota places will qualify |
| 12-Mar | 16-Mar | Weightlifting | African continental qualification event -- Strand (RSA) | 4 NOCs; 5 athletes | ||
| 13-Mar | 24-Mar | Swimming | European Swimming Championships | Eindhoven | NED | NFs/NOCs may enter up to 2 athletes per event, provided they both meet the A qualifying standard time |
| 15-Mar | Trampoline | NOCs to confirm the places that they will use | ||||
| 15-Mar | 25-Mar | Boxing | AIBA 2nd Asia Olympic Qualifying Tournament | Astana | KAZ | |
| 15-Mar | Triathon | 2008 Salinas ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup | Salinas | ECU | ||
| 15-Mar | 16-Mar | Canoe/Kayak Slalom | Olympic Qualification -- Oceania | Penrith | AUS | 4 men and 1 women athlete quota places will qualify |
| 15-Mar | Gymnastics Rhythmic | NOCs to confirm the places that they will use | ||||
| 16-Mar | Triathon | 2008 Nevis ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup | Charlestown | SKN | ||
| 17-Mar | 22-Mar | Weightlifting | Panamerican continental qualification event -- Callao (PER) | 5 NOCs; 7 athletes | ||
| 18-Mar | 23-Mar | Wrestling | Senior Asian Championships (F, GR, W) | The first man and the first woman in each weight category will qualify | ||
| 22-Mar | 31-Jan | Boxing | AIBA 2nd Africa Olympic Qualifying Tournament | Windhoek | NAM | |
| 24-Mar | 29-Mar | Beach Volleyball (Women) | Adelaide Australia Open | Adelaide | AUS | |
| 25-Mar | 30-Mar | Beach Volleyball (Men) | Adelaide Australia Open | Adelaide | AUS | |
| 26-Mar | 29-Mar | Weightlifting | Oceanian continental qualification event -- Auckland (NZL) | 3 NOCs; 4 athletes | ||
| 27-Mar | 30-Mar | Cycling-Track | 2008 Elite World Championships | Manchester | GBR | Individual champions will qualify for the Olympic Games |
| 27-Mar | 30-Mar | Boxing | Oceania Continental Championships | Canberra | AUS | |
| 28-Mar | 30-Mar | Handball | IHF Women's Qualifying Round | The remaining 6 (men) and 6 (women) teams qualify through IHF Qualifying Events | ||
| 28-Mar | 30-Mar | Triathon | 2008 Chiangsaen ITU Triathlon Asian Cup | Chiangsaen | THA | |
| 30-Mar | 6-Apr | Table Tennis | Latin American Championships | Santo Domingo | DOM | 6 singles and 1 Team |
| 30-Mar | Cycling-Track | Close of the UCI Final Individual Track Ranking 2007-2008 | ||||
| 30-Mar | Triathon | 2008 Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup | Mooloolaba | AUS | ||
| 31-Mar | Fencing | Closure of the rolling FIE Official Ranking (one competition replaces that organized the previous year) | ||||
| March | Football | MEBOL preliminary competition (women) | ||||
| March | Football | OFC preliminary competition | ||||
| TBC | Football | CAF preliminary competition | ||||
| TBC | Football | CONCACAF preliminary competition | ||||
| TBC | Football | MEBOL preliminary competition (men) |