‘Seungso’ Lawiton, Paris Olympic Participation Unsuccessful

Netherlands Olympic Committee Abandons Consideration of Competitiveness
Legal Action Taken to Overturn Decision and Restore Olympic Participation Rights
Entry Already Confirmed by Organizing Committee, Participation Blocked

Dutch golfer Joost Luiten's participation in the Paris Olympics has fallen through.

Yost Lawiten regained his qualification to participate in the Paris Olympics after a lawsuit, but ultimately did not take the field.
[Photo by DP World Tour]

The International Golf Federation (IGF) announced on the 9th (local time) that the 60 male golf players qualified for the Paris Olympics have already been confirmed without Luiten, making his participation difficult. In response, Luiten expressed his frustration, saying, "Everyone is just talking nonsense. Everyone is hiding and pushing the blame onto each other," and added, "I did nothing wrong, but I have been harmed because of others' decisions and mistakes."

Luiten and Darius van Driel (Netherlands) both qualified for the Paris Olympics by ranking within the top 60 in the Olympic rankings set by the IGF. However, the Netherlands Olympic Committee excluded the two players from the Olympic team, citing their slim chances of winning a medal. Luiten filed a lawsuit against the Netherlands Olympic Committee's decision and won.

However, the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee had already finalized the list of male golf participants excluding Luiten and van Driel. Instead, they awarded the spots to alternate players to fill the 60-player quota for the Paris Olympics. After hearing about Luiten's legal victory, the IGF proposed to the Paris Olympic Organizing Committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to add one more male golf player, increasing the number to 61, but the proposal was rejected.

Born in 1986, Luiten is a player with six career wins on the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour). The men's golf event at the Paris Olympics will be held over four days starting August 1 at Le Golf National (par 71, 7,249 yards) near Paris, France. The venue has hosted the DP World Tour's Open de France since 1991 and the Ryder Cup, a golf competition between the United States and Europe, in 2018. The competition format is a 72-hole stroke play over four rounds.