Looking forward
The first-ever Olympic gold in boxing may have eluded the Philippines once more, but the two bronze medals secured at the Paris Games in the ring were trimmings to what has been the most successful Games for the country.
With Carlos Yulo bagging two gymnastics golds and female sluggers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas pocketing bronzes, the PH delegation certainly outdid itself in the world’s fashion capital, a fitting follow-up to the country’s breakthrough in Tokyo three years ago, and a blueprint it needs to duplicate for Los Angeles in four years.
“The template applied in weightlifting, gymnastics and boxing has been tested and proven again Paris,” said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Bambol Tolentino, referring to the formula—a squad of coaches, strength and conditioning experts, physiotherapists, nutritionists, among others, that was key.
“The POC will be encouraging national sports associations to apply a similar template [for Los Angeles)]” he said. “That’s why work for Los Angeles in 2028 starts now.”
Elreen Ando finished sixth in the women’s 59-kilogram division in weightlifting after lifting a total of 230 kg highlighted by a personal best 130 in the clean and jerk—a commendable performance for the lass who denied Tokyo heroine Hidilyn Diaz a spot on the PH team.
And it’s understandable that she wants to improve on that.
“I’ll go to LA. I need to work more. My lifts just weren’t enough to get the medal this time,” the native of Cebu told One Sports in Filipino as she improved a spot from her Tokyo effort.
In what could be her third Olympics, Ando has her sights set.
Fought well
“It’s sad that my coaches and I didn’t reach our target,” she went on. “At least the Lord didn’t allow us to not get anything here—we still fought (well) for the country.
“I’m so proud of myself because I made it (here) and I think I need to get this [win next time] for the country.”
Yulo is the man to watch in LA. It’s a no-brainer, although another Games veteran in pole vault ace EJ Obiena will make a decision on what his next career move would be after finishing a hard-fighting fourth earlier in the week.
“It’s been four days, but it really hasn’t sunk in just yet that I captured gold and two of them,” Yulo said. “This is it, the ultimate goal. I can’t wish for anything else right now. There’s still things up next. I won’t stop yet and I still want to compete in 2028 in LA.”
Obiena also showed marked improvement in his second Olympics. He finished 11th in Japan.
There’s a silver lining to the way Petecio and Villegas finished, as their bronzes allowed Philippine boxers to hike their tally to 10 since Filipino pugs started participating 92 years ago, with the tally counting four silvers.
Of the nine who got those medals, only Petecio has won more than one counting her silver finish three years ago at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo edition as a featherweight.
Villegas, a lightweight, is just the second Filipino woman to get a medal. Carlo Paalam and Eumir Marcial, silver and bronze winners in Tokyo, respectively, fell short in their own bids to add another medal to that tally after bowing out in the quarterfinals.
Same events
A total of 32 sports would have been played when the curtains fall on the Paris edition, and most, if not all of them, are bound to be on the LA28 program. Tolentino feels that there are more than a dozen of them where Filipino athletes could win medals.
“Shooting, archery and taekwondo, to name a few,” said Tolentino, who’s also confident cycling, which he also heads, could be a source of medals.
An International Cycling Union-standard 250-meter indoor velodrome is expected to be completed in mid-2025 in Tagaytay City, where Tolentino is mayor.
“Twelve gold medals, six men and six women, are staked in track cycling here in Paris, that’s a lot of opportunities,” Tolentino said.
