PARIS (Via PLDT Home)—The Philippines has already surpassed its Tokyo Olympics performance with its two golds and two bronze medals in the 2024 Paris Olympiad.
But Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino wants more. “We’ve surpassed our Tokyo performance with two golds and two bronzes here. Puwede pa rin madagdagan ‘yan at ma-break natin ang number of medals won in one Olympics,” said Tolentino.
The Paris edition has also matched the number of the haul in Tokyo at four (1 gold, 2 silvers, 1 bronze) and the POC chief would love it if another medal would come from the Philippines’remaining hopefuls in golfers Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina and weightlifters Elreen Ando and Vanessa Sarno.
“Kahit one bronze lang, lalagpasan natin ang four medals sa Tokyo,” said Tolentino, celebrating the great ride of the Philippines in the last two Olympics.
Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines chairman Ricky Vargas concurred “Counting the silver in Rio (of Hidilyn Diaz), the four medals in Tokyo, and the four now here, it’s nine medals after going without a medal in the Olympics for 20 years. Four medals (in Paris) from a 22-strong team with meager funding, that’s excellence,” said Vargas, who was also a former president of the POC.
Vargas then tipped his hat off to the current chief of the country’s Olympic body. “Cong. Bambol, thank you,” said Vargas in their brief chat at the end of the last bout for Philippine boxing here.
“Ang galing nito, super hands-on,” added Vargas of Tolentino, the No. 1 cheerleader in each and every fight of a Filipino athlete since the Tokyo Games.
Vargas’ national association delivered two bronze medals in Paris, courtesy of Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas — the Philippines’ fifth and sixth bronzes in the Olympics, counting those of Jose Villanueva (1932 Los Angeles), Leopoldo Serrantes (1988 Seoul), Roel Velasco (1992 Barcelona) and Eumir Marcial (2020 Tokyo).
The Philippines has four boxing silvers in the Olympics, courtesy of Anthony Villanueva (1964 Tokyo), Onyok Velasco (1992 Atlanta), Petecio and Carlo Paalam (2021 Tokyo).
