Every achiever’s road to gold always starts with the most humble beginnings. From starting out as a believer, they reached the highest peaks as a winner through their perseverance and determination. In this year’s Tokyo Olympics, the Philippines saw the fruits of labor that the athletes gave during the competition as they carried the national flag on their shoulders, making the country proud.
As fellow countrymen, we are also honored for having them to represent the country to show the world not only how Filipinos are capable of attaining what seemed impossible, but as well as exhibiting that everyone can become an achiever through hard work and prayers.
The Promising Star
Despite his Olympic battle concluding as a bronze medalist, Eumir Marcial is a force to be reckoned with. Commencing his training at the early age of 7, his father, the head of the Zamboanga boxing team, was his dedicated coach until his teen years.
The middleweight boxer soon climbed his way to the Southeast Asian games, being an eminent three-time gold medalist, represented the Philippines again in the Asian games where he earned his first bronze medal, and perhaps his most significant award was in the 2019 World Championships, winning a silver medal.
When he was interviewed about his talent, he replied with some insight from the boxing prodigy himself, Manny Pacquiao, saying that “the higher you get, the more humble you should be” and that he will continuously keep striving forward.
Before his match in the Olympics, he was signed under Pacquiao’s MP Promotions and once trained with Freddie Roach. He announced that he wanted to win an Olympic gold for the Philippines not just for his countrymen, but as a promise to his father, a sign of thanks and gratitude to his very first trainer.
Rising From the Ashes
Although falling short of claiming the gold medal, she was the first Filipina Olympic boxing medalist marking history. Nesthy Petecio has faced multiple losses in the sport including the controversial defeat during the 2018 Asian Games and originally not being able to enter the roster at the Olympic berth in the Asia and Oceania qualifiers. However, with the given chance to compete in this year’s Tokyo Olympics, she came back from the competition winning silver in the Olympic Games’ women’s featherweight division.
Nesthy said that this is an important tournament, not only for her, but for the country and to her coaches. She dedicated her fight for her family, country and to her best friend who died, including her coaches who have sacrificed so much for the competition.
Like Nesthy, Carlo Paalam failed to win the golden spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after receiving a knockdown by Great Britain’s Galal Yafai.
Nonetheless, his family were still proud of his achievement in the competition. They were happy that he didn’t sustain any injury after fighting in the ring for several days.
Growing up in poverty, Carlo used to earn a living by collecting and selling garbage scraps to help his family, but after enduring a hard-knock-life in the slums and his years of training, he was able to get where is.
The youngest boxer in the ring was thankful that he can provide more for his family. The sport turned his life around and sure enough won’t be the end of his career as many more firsts and achievements he can achieve not only for himself, but for his family and his homeland.
The First Golden Win
It has been a 97-year wait for the Philippines to claim its first gold in the Olympics, and for the first time ever, she made history on that very day.
Born in Zamboanga, Hidilyn Diaz used to make a living during her childhood days by selling fish and vegetables with her father, who was a tricycle driver. She had a great passion for sports, yet she pursued most interest in weightlifting, lifting barbells made out of concrete weights.
Soon, her weightlifting hobby granted her a place in multiple Olympic competitions at such a young age, as she faced both victory and losses.
Standing as the country’s inspiration to young athletes, Hidilyn demonstrated patience, dedication and perseverance to achieve the Philippine’s first gold medal and breaked the record of China’s world record holder, Liao Qiuyun in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after she was able to lift and jerk an astounding 127 kg.
“I don’t want to promise to win gold, I just want to do it.” Diaz said in an interview.
On top of all the pressure and praise, she is thankful to God for guiding her and granting her utmost strength through what seemed like the impossible.
Thank You, Team Philippines
To the 19 contestants who joined this year’s Tokyo Olympics, medalists or not, it is our pride and joy to see you proudly wave the flag of your country as you compete fiercely in the battle.
Thank you Ej Obiena, Carlos Yulo, Hidilyn Diaz, Margielyn Didal, Eumir Marcial, Nesthy Petecio, Irish Magno, Carlo Paalam, Yuka Saso, Bianca Padanganan, Juvic Pagunsan, Kiyomi Watanabe, Elreen Ando, Cris Nievarez, Curt Barbosa, Jayson Valdez, Kristina Knott, Remedy Rule and Luke Gebbie for giving hope that shines through every young athletics who aspires to reach their dreams just as you all did. The same goes to showing how every Filipino can aspire to reach greater feats especially in the field of sports.
Under Republic Act 10699, the Philippine Sports Commission will grant a P10 million reward for the Olympic gold medalist, P5 million for the silver medalist and P2 million for the bronze medalist.
Story by Faith Ongaria and Anika Uy
Photos from Manila Times, Philippine Star, GMA News, and Reportr World