African Games tennis champion Angela Okutoyi will miss the Olympic Games in Paris after failing to meet the selection criteria.
The 2022 Wimbledon doubles junior champion needed to be in the top 400 by June 10 but was placed a lowly 496—missing out on qualification for the sport's biggest extravaganza.
She had been entered in three tournaments following her win at the Africa Games in Ghana but could not increase her points tally and move up the rankings to meet the criteria for the Paris Olympics.
Tennis Kenya (TK) had lobbied the International Tennis Federation to consider Okutoyi as a wild card for the Olympics.
As per the ITF qualification system, places are allocated to successful competitors at the Pan American Games, Asian Games, African Games and Olympic gold medallists/Grand Slam singles champions with the highest number of titles.
All players must be in good standing with their National Association and must have met Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup participation requirements.
The National Association of any player who did not meet this criteria was free to apply to the ITF Olympic Committee for an exemption. The ATP and WTA rankings as of June 10 were used for entry
For men's and women’s doubles, the top 24 teams were selected on combined singles or doubles ranking, with the top 10 doubles players eligible for direct entry with any partner with a top 300 ranking.
According to the IOC player quota regulations, priority for the 8 remaining teams was given to teams including two single players, followed by teams including one single player.
The two-time Kenya Open champion will now turn her attention to the Morocco Futures tournament in August and play in the Collegiate circuit in the United States of America, where she is a student at Auburn University.