This world star could have brought his country’s very first gold medal, but it was missed for the Paris Olympics.
Several stars are expected at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Among the French, we can cite Teddy Riner, Léon Marchand or perhaps Kylian Mbappé, Victor Wembanyama and Antoine Dupont if they are well selected for the French team. football, basketball and rugby sevens. For other countries in the world, the list can be extremely long with American NBA stars LeBron James or Steph Curry, but also swimming with Katie Ledecky or gymnastics with the expected return of Simone Biles. For Sweden, we will follow pole vaulter Armand Duplantis who will certainly try to break a new world record. Still in athletics, the Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will try to obtain a third coronation and could be one of the queens of these Olympics.
Another of these international stars could have been part of the elite at the Paris Olympic Games, but the latter was ultimately rejected by the IOC even before the start of the competitions. His name, Manny Pacquiao, boxing legend, world champion several times and elected boxer of the year in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Last fall, the International Olympic Committee of the Philippines sent a “special request” to the IOC so that Pacquiao can participate in these Olympics.
The response was negative. The reason: aged 45, Manny Pacquiao must come out of retirement to take part in the Games while the rule sets the age limit for Olympic boxers at 40. The Philippine committee hoped to give Manny Pacquiao access to one of the “universality places” of his delegation, places which are granted to athletes from countries which struggle to obtain their ticket to the Games through the normal qualification channels. There are nine in total for boxing – five for women and four for men.
But in February, the official announcement came, Manny Pacquiao will not be able to participate in the Paris Olympics. Abraham Tolentino, president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, told AFP the request had been rejected, with the Games governing body preferring to stick to its “rules”. Last October, the boxer declared to AFP that he was “not too old” to face younger boxers, stating that he felt like he was “30 years old or 28 years old. A disappointment for an entire country because, according to the head of the committee, “he could have secured a podium or been the country’s first gold medal.”
For boxing fans, don’t panic, the field looks set to be quite tough and there are several French chances like Estelle Mosely for the women or Sofiane Oumiha for the men. As a reminder, the French boxing team won six medals, including two gold, during the Tokyo Olympics.