COMING off an outstanding campaign in the last Tokyo Olympic Games three years ago, Filipino sports fans are wondering if the national standard-bearers have what it takes to duplicate if not surpass what the country achieved in the Japanese capital when they compete in the Paris Games in July.
After nearly a century of competing in the Olympics, Filipino bets achieved a golden breakthrough in Tokyo courtesy of Hidylin Diaz-Naranjo, who hoisted a record-breaking 224 kilograms in ruling the women’s 55kg division.
Filipino boxers also had their most successful stint in the quadrennial global spectacle, with flyweight Carlo Paalam and featherweight Nesty Petecio capturing a silver medal each while middleweight Eumir Felix Marcial bagged a bronze in their Olympic debuts.
What made the accomplishment even more remarkable for the Philippine contingent consisting of 10 women and nine men in 11 sports was the fact that it was attained just a year after the COVID-19 pandemic struck that held all sports globally to a virtual standstill.
With the worldwide viral crisis easing and international play back to normal, can the country’s athletes rise to the occasion and achieve a new level of excellence as the country celebrates a centennial of Olympic participation in the same place where it all began in 1904?
With the worldwide viral crisis easing and international play back to normal, can the country’s athletes rise to the occasion?
Four Pinoy athletes have qualified so far for the Paris Olympic Games, led by star pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, who will be joined by gymnasts Carlos Edriel Yulo and Aleah Finnegan and boxer Eumir Felix Marcial.
By any measure, it was a banner year for Obiena, highlighted by his silver-medal finish in the World Athletics Championships last August in Budapest, Hungary with a jump of six meters flat, higher than the qualifying cut of 5.92 meters, sealing his ticket to the Paris Olympic Games.
The lanky 6-foot-2 beanpole once again emerged as the country’s first Olympic qualifier, like what he did when he made his maiden Olympic appearance in Tokyo in 2021.
He ended 2023 on a victorious note, setting a new Asian Games record in Hangzhou, clearing 5.90 meters to break a 27-year-old golden dry spell since celebrated sprinter Lydia de Vega won the women’s 100-meter dash in the 1986 edition in Seoul, South Korea.
Should Obiena, now ranked No. 2 in the World Athletics men’s pole vault rankings, surpass his current Asian mark of six meters flat, he could be the main contender to magnificent reigning Olympic and world champion Mondo Duplantis of Sweden in Paris.
Also making his second trip to the Olympics is Marcial, who, fighting as an undersized light heavyweight, won a silver in the Hangzhou Asiad boxing tournament. He and the gold medal winner advanced to the Olympics.
Following in their footsteps is fellow Tokyo Olympic veteran Yulo, who booked his ticket by finishing fourth in the men’s floor exercise in the men’s individual all-around qualifiers of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium last October.
In her world meet debut, Fil-Am Aleah Finnegan emerged as the first Pinay gymnast to make it to the Olympics after finishing fifth overall out of the 14 individual qualified entries with a score of 51.366 points in the women’s individual all-around qualifiers.
A quartet of weightlifters bannered by Diaz-Naranjo are also jockeying to make it to the Olympics scheduled July 11 to Aug. 11 in the European fashion capital.
Gunning for her fifth Olympic outing in a row, Diaz-Naranjo could find young Cebuana teammate Elreen Ann Ando in the way in her bid to achieve that milestone.
After competing together in the last IWF Grand Prix 2 in Doha, Qatar last month, the 32-year-old Zamboanga City pride and her young rival were locked in an intense duel for the lone Olympic spot for the country in the women’s 59kg division.
Diaz-Naranjo, who failed to finish the event after pulling out of the clean-and-jerk due to cramps, is currently at No. 9 while Ando is at No. 11 after placing 11th in Doha.
Diaz-Naranjo has decided to skip the Asian weightlifting championships, another Olympic qualifying event, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan while Ando will compete, giving her a good chance of moving up in the rankings over her illustrious rival.
A showdown between the two is expected in the IWF World Cup, the last and compulsory Olympic qualifying event, from April 2 to 12 in Phuket, Thailand.
Jose Fabuar Ceniza, a silver medalist in the men’s 66kg category in Doha, Rosegie Ramos and Vanessa Sarno, who will all see action in the Asian meet next month, are also seeking Olympic berths in Paris.
Renewing their Olympic bid likewise are Paalam and Ceniza, who left with the 10-man national team last Jan. 14, to begin their intensive training overseas beginning with a two-week training camp in Canberra, Australia under the supervision of Aussie coach Don Abnett.
Also in the men’s squad are Rio Olympic Games veteran Rogen Ladon, a back-to-back Southeast Asian Games gold medalist; Mark Ashley Fajardo, Ronald Chavez Jr., son of former national standout and present national coach Ronald Chavez Sr, and John Nobel Tupas Marvin.
Aira Villegas, Claudine Veloso, Riza Pasulit and Hergie Bacyadan complete the women’s team.
The national boxing team’s build-up will then take them to Spain where the Pinoy pugs will train and then see action in an international invitational meet organized by the Spanish federation from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4.
They will then test their mettle in the first world Olympic qualifying boxing tournament to be held from Feb. 29 in Busto Arsizio, Italy, a town 613 kilometers northwest of Rome.
Boxing Secretary General Marcus Manalo said their next training stop will be in April at the high-altitude US Olympic boxing training center in Denver, Colorado, where Marcial is expected to rejoin his national teammates after his first pro fight in the country scheduled in March.
Manalo said the next training camp would either be in Cuba or Uzbekistan, two prominent boxing powers, depending on the availability and the schedule of the training venues being arranged by their respective federations.
The last chance for Pinoy boxers to qualify for the Olympics is the second and last qualifying competition slated from May 23 to June 5 in Bangkok, Thailand.
A longshot to qualify for the Paris Summer Games is ring icon Manny Pacquiao, who has asked Philippine Olympic Committee president and Tagaytay Mayor Bambol Tolentino to request the International Olympic Committee to give him a wild card.
Pro golfers Bianca Pagdanganan, who was able to secure her LPGA tour card after a strong finish in the 2023 season, and former prodigy Dottie Ardina are also in the hunt for Olympic tickets.
Between them, the long-hitting Pagdanganan, 26, a double gold medalist in the 30th Philippine Southeast Asian Games, appears to have the better chance, moving up to No. 39 from No. 40 in the most recent International Golf Federation women’s rankings.
Ardina, 30, is clinging to the 60th and last spot, with the top 60 entries to be decided on the cut-off date on June 24.
In her Olympic debut in Tokyo, Pagdanganan finished in a three-way tie for 43rd place with a total score of 285 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club course in Saitama, Japan on the outskirts north of Tokyo.
Both can still move up the ratings as they resume play in the US LPGA tour.
Swimmers Kayla Sanchez and Xiandi Chua also loom as strong Olympic contenders and hope to qualify by making the cut in the 100-meter freestyle and 200-meter backstroke event, respectively, in the world swimming championships from Feb. 2 to 18 in Doha, Qatar.
Also vying for Olympic berths are the hopefuls in taekwondo, cycling, shooting and rowing, among others.
Tolentino acknowledged that the Philippine outing three years ago would be a tough act to follow.
“This will be a tough year for us, Paris is just around the corner,” Tolentino said. “And before we get there, there are tough competitions for our athletes to qualify.
“It will be very good if we again have 19 Olympians, but if we do not have those numbers, the focus will be on the podium. Hopefully, we haul more in Paris,” he added.
Not to be overlooked, too, are the aspirants for the Paris Paralympic Games, according to Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo.
Among those considered as having the best chances to qualify for Paris are wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan, who won a gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Paralympic Games, and wheelchair thrower and Cambodia Asean Para Games gold medalist Cendy Asusano.
Also tipped to join them in the French capital are veteran swimmer Ernie Gawilan, also a Hangzhou Para Games gold medalist, and limbless swimmer and Cambodia Asean Para Games quadruple champion Angel Mae Otom.
Indeed, the country’s outing in the Tokyo Games would be very hard to match or surpass, but who knows?
