Cesar breaks PH into medal tally after 800-m silver
DAKAR, Senegal—The burst of speed that carried her to a silver medal clocked faster than Naomi Marjorie Cesar’s realization of what she had just accomplished.
“When I crossed the line, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just medaled at the Youth Olympics,’” she said.
Cesar, fully certain she wouldn’t finish out of the podium here, clinched a silver medal in the 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Tuesday, using a final surge in the last 150 meters to validate her status as the country’s 800-meter rising star.
The 17-year-old runner gave the country its first gold in the Games in front of a packed crowd at Complexe Iba Mar Diop Stadium in the capital city, never once doubting that she would be among the participants in the medal ceremony.
“I worked so hard for this so I told myself I’m not going to come home in fourth place,” she said.
For most of the race, however, it almost seemed like she would: Cesr was running fifth after two and a half laps around the track.
But Cesar owned the homestretch.
“I was kind of waiting for the end to just turn it on and go,” said the teenager, whose father, Ben, watched from the stands alongside members of the Philippine delegation and fellow athletics bet Pi Durden Forward Wangkay, who competed in the men’s 200 meters also on Tuesday.
“I just told myself that when I start running, no one can catch me, and I can catch whoever I set my eyes on,” she added. “So, I just trusted in myself.”
Ethiopia’s Netsanet Selemon refused to be chased down, however, and took the gold in 2 minutes, 4.43 seconds. Cesar finished more than five seconds behind, expending a lot of energy in her initial chase and missing her personal best by three seconds.
Morocco’s Khadija Elmostaqim looked headed for the silver but faded against Cesar’s homestretch blitz and settled for bronze in 2:10.05.
The result added another milestone to Cesar’s growing list of accomplishments over the past two years.
A gold medalist at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Cesar also holds the Philippine national record in the 800 meters, which she set in China last June.
Her silver was only the Philippines’ second officially credited medal in Youth Olympic Games history, following Christian Tio’s silver in men’s IKA twin-tip kiteboarding at the 2018 Buenos Aires Games.
Luis Gabriel Moreno also won gold in mixed-team archery alongside China’s Li Jiaman in Buenos Aires, but the medal was not included in the Philippines’ official tally because it was earned in a mixed-national Olympic committee event.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino, who followed Cesar’s race in the early hours Tuesday in Manila, congratulated the young runner.
“Congratulations Naomi, long live!” Tolentino said. “We are proud of you for bringing home the silver.”
Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick Gregorio also celebrated the breakthrough.
“Big congratulations Naomi,” Gregorio said from Manila. “Well done, Team Philippines!”
Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Terry Capistrano joined the chorus of praise.
“Congratulations Naomi, and thank you for making the Filipinos proud and happy,” he said.
Hours before the race, Cesar had received encouragement from marathon great and International Olympic Committee Global Ambassador Eliud Kipchoge.
“He told me to go out there, compete, have fun, be proud of myself and remember how far I’ve come,” Cesar said.
Yet even after the finish, Cesar was still trying to absorb the magnitude of what she had accomplished.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” she said. “It’s just so unreal, but I’m so happy and so proud of myself.”
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