Mexican shooter Andrea Palafox, who qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the 10-metre air rifle and 50-metre three-position air rifle events, will not be able to take part in the Games due to circumstances beyond her control.

The markswoman has been informed by the sports authorities that she will not be taking up the additional place granted to this sport a few days ago. A mistake by the International Shooting Federation was the reason for the Mexican athlete's disappointment.

The organisation allocated an extra place that was not registered, resulting in Palafox's exclusion from the competition.

Initially, Palafox had qualified for both events. However, the international federation later said that there was only one vacant spot, which corresponded to the 10-metre air rifle event, and that Palafox was not in the Olympic ranking for that category.

In fact, the Mexican Olympic Committee itself posted on X that "The Mexican Andrea Palafox has qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the women's rifle event, after the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) awarded the spot for being the highest ranked at continental level".

As a result of this administrative confusion, another Mexican athlete, Goretti Zumaya, will receive the ticket to Paris 2024 as she was ranked higher than Palafox in the shooting rankings.

"I have just been informed that I will not be participating in Paris 2024 due to an error in the allocation of quotas. I did not ask to be in this situation. It is very difficult to understand how such a deliberate decision can be made in such an important situation for an athlete," she wrote on her Instagram account.

María José Alcalá, President of the Mexican Olympic Committee, acknowledged the mistake made by the International Shooting Federation and regretted the disappointment caused to Andrea Palafox. "It was a mistake by the International Federation. We deeply regret what has happened to Palafox, to Andrea, but that's the way things are".

"We received a letter from the International Federation with an apology and an explanation of the problems. We regret these mistakes, which are not the fault of the Mission Management or the COM, but in the end they affect our athletes. There was no need to hurt and upset her," said Alcalá.

Zumaya is 98th in the 10m air rifle event, while Palafox is 100th in the 50m three-position air rifle event.

As a result, Goretti, who only has the right to compete in the 10-metre air rifle event, will take the place allocated to Mexico.

Born on 26 January 1988 in Guanajuato, the athlete who shone at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, winning four medals: one gold, two silver and one bronze in both the individual and team competitions, will therefore not be competing in Paris 2024, despite having been announced as qualified.