Tag: Joost Luiten

Joost Luiten added to Olympic reallocation list, not officially back in field

The men’s competition is set for Aug. 1-4 at Le Golf National in Paris.

The roller coaster ride of Joost Luiten trying to play in the Paris Olympics continued Saturday.

Luiten originally qualified for the men’s golf competition at the Olympics before the Dutch Olympic Committee-Dutch Sports Federation denied his spot because he did not meet its criteria.

Luiten then went to court and won, saying he should be allowed to compete. The problem was, the International Olympic Committee already filled his spot.

The International Golf Federation requested the IOC expand the field to 61 players to allow Luiten to play. While that was denied, the IGF said Saturday Luiten was added to the reallocation list.

“The International Golf Federation recognises an error was made by the Dutch NOC-NSF with its qualification criteria and subsequently during the confirmation process for men’s Olympic golf qualifier Joost Luiten,” the IGF’s statement said. “This error was confirmed via legal process, though only after the field for the men’s Olympic golf competition was finalized pursuant to the IGF’s published qualification procedures.”

Olympics: Meet the 60 men’s players in the field

Luiten’s only chance to compete in the games would be if another player withdraws, depending on their country.

Darius van Driel and Dewi Weber were two other Dutch athletes who earned spots in the Paris games but had their spots taken away because of the NOC-NSF decision saying the committee didn’t believe they could finish in the top eight.

The men’s competition is set for Aug. 1-4 at Le Golf National in Paris.

Not so fast: Dutchman Joost Luiten may have won his court hearing but here’s why he’s still not in the 2024 Olympics

Men’s golf is set to take place from Aug. 1-4 at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, France.

Joost Luiten’s saga to compete in the 2024 Olympics took another turn — and this one didn’t go in his favor.

Luiten, a native of the Netherlands, qualified for the Summer Games in Paris but his governing body for golf decided not to send him and other members of his country. Luiten wrote on social media that the Dutch Olympic Committee required the likelihood of a top-eight finish in the 60-man, 72-hole competition and denied him because it did not feel he would be able to do so.

Luiten, a 38-year-old DP World Tour veteran, took his case to a Netherlands court, which ruled in his favor.

“The Olympic rings are colored again,” he posted on his official Instagram account on July 2. “I have WON the court case and the NOCNSF have to enter me before 5 PM today!!!”

But Luiten, who represented his country in the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janiero, is back on the outside looking in as the International Olympic Committee went against the wishes of the International Golf Federation.

“When the International Golf Federation (IGF) received notification of Joost Luiten’s court ruling in the Netherlands and his entry from the Netherlands’ National Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF), his unused quota spot had already been reallocated pursuant to the IGF’s published qualification procedures,” the IGF said in a statement on Tuesday. “The IGF was not a party to the legal action brought forth by Luiten in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, in an effort to support Luiten, the IGF sought an exception from the IOC to increase the field size of the men’s Olympic golf competition from 60 to 61 competitors to include Luiten, however the request was denied by the IOC today.”

Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen replaced Luiten in the 60-man Olympic field.

The IGF has advised Luiten of the IOC’s decision. According to the IGF, he has not informed the IGF whether he intends to pursue this matter further.

“It’s very painful when basically one or two people say you’re not good enough when you’ve met the criteria,” Luiten told the DP World Tour website last week. “It just wasn’t fair, and it was great that the judge saw that as well and that it shows that they can’t do whatever they want. They still need to explain why they are making certain decisions, and I think that’s the good thing about this.”

The men’s golf competition is set to take place from Aug. 1-4 at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, France, southwest of Paris.