After losing bronze in Tokyo, LIV Golfer gets second chance at 2024 Olympics after last-minute entry

Mito Pereira, who missed out on the opportunity to win the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, has finally earned a spot in the upcoming Paris Olympics. Initially, Cristobal del Solar qualified for the Paris Olympics but later withdrew from the competition to focus on earning a PGA Tour card. His withdrawal opened the door for Mito Pereira, who will now represent Chile in the international event.

Mito Pereira plays on the LIV Golf tour and despite having strong performances on the Saudi circuit, missed out on ranking points. This led to his fall in the world rankings, preventing him from initially qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

However, with del Solar's withdrawal, Pereira now joined other LIV golfers, including Joaquin Niemann, Jon Rahm, David Puig, Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, and Adrian Meronk, in Paris.

In an interview with LIV Golf officials, Pereira discussed Cristobal del Solar's withdrawal, expressing his thoughts on the unexpected opportunity. He said (via Golf Magic):

"He wanted to get to a certain number of points because obviously he's fighting for his PGA Tour card. It's not that one is more important than the other. Obviously trying to get to the PGA Tour is his main goal. He made that decision and I think it's very smart to do it."

It is important to note that Mito Pereira has played in eight LIV Golf events in 2024, securing one top-10 spot. He started his season at the Mayakoba event, finishing in 43rd place. Most recently, he played in Houston, where he finished in 39th place.

Golfers qualified for the Paris Olympics

Here is the list of the players qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics:

Argentina - Emiliano Grillo, Alejandro Tosti
Australia - Jason Day, Min Woo Lee
Austria - Sepp Straka
Belgium - Thomas Detry, Adrien Dumont du Chassart
Canada - Corey Conners, Nick Taylor
Chile - Cristobal Del Solar, Joaquin Niemann
China - Zechang Dou, Carl Yuan
Chinese Taipei - CT Pan, Kevin Yu
Colombia - Nico Echevarria, Camillo Villages
Denmark - Nicolai Hojgaard, Thorbjorn Olesen
Finland - Sami ValimakiFrance - Matthieu Pavon, Victor Perez
Germany - Stephan Jaeger, Matti Schmid
Great Britain - Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood
India - Gaganjeet Bhullar, Shubhankar Sharma
Ireland - Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy
Italy - Matteo Manassero, Guido Migliozzi
Japan - Hideki Matsuyama, Keita Nakajima
Malaysia - Gavin Green
Mexico - Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz
Netherlands - Darius van Driel, Joost Luiten
New Zealand - Ryan Fox, Daniel Hillier
Norway - Viktor Hovland, Kris Ventura
Paraguay - Fabrizio Zanotti
Poland - Adrian Meronk
Puerto Rico - Rafael Campos
South Africa - Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Erik Van Rooyen
South Korea - Byeong Hun An, Tom Kim
Spain - Jon Rahm, David Puig
Sweden - Ludvig Aberg, Alex Noren
Thailand - Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Phachara Khongwatmai
United States - Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler