Manny Pacquiao’s Olympic dream shattered as age disqualifies him; future fights may be his new focus.

Manny Pacquiao (R) throws punch at Yordenis Ugas during their WBA welterweight title fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Manny Pacquiao recieves shock disqualification from Olympic organizers. ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES. 

As boxing enthusiasts may remember, living superstar Manny Pacquiao announced last year that he would attempt to compete in the Paris Olympic Games in 2024. Because even though the 45-year-old has been boxing professionally since 1995 and has accomplished a great deal as a professional, he still has, or once had, the desire of representing his nation in the Olympics.

However, Pacquiao’s desire will now not come true, as stated in an official statement from Abraham Tolentino, president of the International Olympic Committee, as he has been declared too old to compete in the Rio Summer Games.

“Too bad our beloved boxing icon is disqualified because of his age and that everyone needs to go through qualifiers, in all sports, to be able to participate in Paris,” said Tolentino in a  statement.

There’s no doubt that Pacquiao(62-8-2, 39KOs) from Philippines will be disappointed by this decision and update. Not only that, but he will not be able to qualify through the University rule, which goes to national athletes who were turned down for participation through the regular channels, further diminishing his prospects of ever making it to The Games. Since an excessive number of athletes from his nation were permitted to compete at the last two Olympic games thanks to a special ruling, Manny Pacquiao’s access to this avenue has been restricted.

If Pacquiao decides to fight again—his strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune has mentioned that he may face Terence Crawford—he will need to take a different path. As Pacquiao stated to Rappler last year, he truly wanted to compete in the Olympics.

“From the beginning, I went to Manila to be part of the Philippine team, but I wasn’t picked, I was rejected….because they said I was not good. My heart and desire is to claim a gold medal in the Olympics,” said Pacquiao in media reports.

That opportunity won’t come again. When Manny Pacquiao first announced his desire, some fans supported him, while others disagreed, saying the Olympics belong to young, talented athletes rather than former multi-weight world champions who have already accomplished so much in sports.