Gold-getters
The Philippines was the latest among five Southeast Asian (SEA) nations to win a gold medal in the Olympics.
The country is hoping to become the third in that list to win a gold in the Summer Games following its breakthrough triumph when the 22-person delegation opens its bid in the Paris Olympiad.
And fittingly, Carlos Yulo will be the one kicking off the Philippines campaign in the French capital.
The world champion gymnast and rower Joanie Delgaco will be on the block in Team Philippines’ Day 1 of the Olympiad, with Yulo among those touted to win a medal—possibly gold—for the country.
“There’s a big chance to win a gold,’’ said Yulo. “I keep telling myself that this is my time. I’ve been doing this over and over, so I have to be confident.’’
Yulo will see action in the all-around event where he will compete in six apparatuses: parallel bars, horizontal bar, pommel horse, rings, vault and the floor exercise.
Landing in the top 12 of the all-around during the qualifications on July 27 at Bercy Arena in the French capital will earn Yulo a pass to the final while finishing eighth or better in each of the apparatus will propel him to the medal round.
Overall, seven gold medals are at stake in Yulo’s discipline, but the Filipino ace prefers to focus his efforts on the parallel bars, vault and floor exercise.
Machine-like foe
World No. 2 pole vaulter EJ Obiena is also a medal hopeful. To win gold, however, he must stare down Swedish-American star Mondo Duplantis, the world No. 1 and machine-like record-holder in the sport.
“It’s easier to be an underdog. You aren’t expected to do much, but there’s always a fight in you. It’s easier to [score an] upset than to be expected,’’ said Obiena.
Obiena’s personal best in the sport is 6 meters, the Asian record. Duplantis is owns the world standard at 6.23 m. The difference between the two is about the circumference of a dinner plate.
The country’s national boxing team is also brimming with optimism. Tokyo Olympics silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam, who carried the flag for the Philippines in the opening ceremonies, are back to join the gold hunt, as is celebrated professional Eumir Marcial, a bronze medalist from the last Summer Games.
It was in Tokyo when Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo ended the country’s nearly hundred-year wait for a gold medal, when she ruled the women’s 55-kg division of weightlifting.
That had the Philippines joining Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam as Southeast Asian countries with Olympic champions.
Indonesia’s Susi Susanti was the first SEA athlete to win an Olympic gold in badminton in 1992 in Barcelona. Hours later, her then boyfriend Alan Budikusuma, whom she later married, also won a gold in the men’s side.
Thailand’s Somluck Kamsing ruled the featherweight class in 1996 in Atlanta—beating one Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the semifinals—as Thailand became the second SEA nation to win an Olympic gold.
Swimmer Joseph Schooling of Singapore and shooter Hoang Xuan Vinh of Vietnam put their countries on the board in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. But unlike Indonesia and Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam couldn’t follow up their breakthroughs after failing to tab gold in Tokyo.
Team Philippines is confident that it will break that run, with Philippine Olympic Committee president Bambol Tolentino looking at an even better finish in Paris.
