PARIS. – Beneath national para swimmer Angel Mae Otom’s sparkling smile and bubbly personality lies an ultra-competitive spirit that won’t settle for being second best.
“Go for gold talaga. Kung mangarap ka, ba’t di gold, hindi ba?” Otom said of her aspirations as she makes her debut in the 17th Paralympic Games opening here on Wednesday night.
“I am very much prepared po talaga. Since February pa ko nag-training with coach Tony Ong at bumigat ng bumigat ‘yung workout namin,” said the limbless swimming queen, who won four gold medals in the Cambodia Asean Para Games in 2023.
A third year College of Human Kinetics student at UP Diliman, Otom, who also paints and draws beautifully using her feet, said she had taken a one-year leave of absence to focus on her golden goal here.
She wants to make up for her dismal outing in the World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester, England in July 2023 where she fared poorly in her pet 50-meter backstroke S5 event.
Sporting legs built like tree trunks, Otom is No. 5 in the World Para Rankings in the event with a personal best time of 44.72 seconds set when she ruled the women’s CITI Championship Series Singapore leg last May.
“Excited po talaga ako kasi this is my first time to compete in the Paralympic Games. Dito gusto kong makuha ‘yung nasayang ko sa Manchester a year before. Ito na ‘yung opportunity na maipakita ko kung ano ang kaya ko,” she added, confident she could surpass her previous personal best.
That chance will come on Sept. 3 at the Paris La Défense Arena where the heats and finals of the event will be staged.
Achieving a podium finish would break an eight-year medal drought for the country since the late table tennis player Josephine Medina won a bronze a medal in the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — but Otom will have none of that.
“Once in a lifetime po ito kaya di ko palalagpasin na maka-ginto,” she said with an obvious fiery gleam in her eye.
