PARIS. – While not saying much, para archer Agustina Bantiloc is not keen on being a one-and-done wonder in the 17th Paris Paralympic Games here.
Accompanied by compound coach Jonathan Josol, Bantiloc has had the opportunity to sharpen her skills together with the five other Pinoy para athletes starting last Aug. 11 with a training camp in Nimes, France before the national contingent entered the Paralympic Village in the French capital a week ago.
“Malamig at mahangin po,” Bantiloc said of the conditions at the archery range at the Les Invalides, a quarter featuring French military history, where the women’s individual ranking round will begin on Thursday.
Before leaving for Paris, the 56-year-old pride of Tanudan, Kalinga, also the hometown of Paris Olympian Hergie Bacyadan, acknowledged the pressure that comes with being the country’s first para archer to represent the country in the Paralympic Games.
It was her training in powerlifting, garnering a silver medal in the women’s 51kg division of the Asean Para Games in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2003, which gave her the upper body strength needed when she took up archery sport in 2011.
Among her previous accomplishments was teaming up with Marcel Burgos in bagging the bronze medal in the mixed team event of the 2022 Asean Para Games in Surakarta, Indonesia.
“Siyempre may pressure kasi ako ‘yung first para archer na makakapaglaro sa Paralympic Games, pero kagaya ng sinong atleta gusto ko ring manalo,” said Bantiloc in an interview before the national team left for the games here.
Having experienced the trappings and privileges of being a Paralympian, Bantiloc won’t settle for a one-shot deal in her debut here.
“Hindi ko sasayangin ang pagkakataon na ibinigay ng Diyos sa akin,” she said then.
She declined to be interviewed on the eve of her performance, quite understandable given the high stakes involved.
Bantiloc needs to finish among the top 16 in the preliminary or ranking round on Thursday to advance to the knockout stage the next day.
