Can the Philippines top their medal haul from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics? The country’s hopes in doing so lie in the hands of these athletes who have qualified for Paris 2024.
Most, if not all athletes dream of representing their country at least once in their careers. After all, what else could bring as much pride as uplifting an entire nation through sport? If it’s hard to imagine, just look at how countries celebrate when their national athletes win a World Cup trophy. But as far as international competitions go, it does not get much bigger than the Olympics. However, as the Olympics is only held once every four years, an athlete only gets so many chances to qualify for a coveted slot. The chances of winning a medal are even slimmer.
Tokyo 2020 marked a historic tournament for the Philippines, as Hidilyn Diaz won the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal, and as the nation recorded their highest medal tally in Olympic history. And with the Philippine sports scene continuing to get even brighter, Filipinos have high hopes as we countdown to Paris 2024.
Currently, these hopes lie in the following Filipino athletes who have qualified for the 2024 Olympics.
EJ Obiena (Athletics)
EJ Obiena became the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics when he cleared the qualifying benchmark of 5.82 meters in the Stockholm Diamond League-Bauhaus Galan back in July.
In the previous Tokyo Olympics, the Filipino concluded his campaign in the men’s pole vault event in 11th place, while Armand Duplantis from Sweden secured the gold medal. However, now with more years of experience in the bag and as World No. 2 in the men’s pole vault rankings, Obiena feels that this time around, he can beat Duplantis in the coming Summer Games.
Carlos Yulo (Gymnastics)
Carlos Yulo is headed for his second Olympic appearance at only 23 years old as of writing. He qualified for a spot in Paris 2024 in October this year as he was recognized as the highest-ranked eligible athlete in the floor exercise of the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
In his last Olympics appearance in Tokyo, the Filipino gymnastics sensation’s goal was to become the first athlete from the Philippines to win a gold medal for artistic gymnastics. However, he was unable to fulfill this goal as he missed out on the medal round of his event. But now, he will get a second chance at achieving this dream as he makes his way as one of the Filipino athletes headed for the Paris Olympics.
Aleah Finnegan (Gymnastics)
Aleah Finnegan is already making history for the Philippines and for herself having simply qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Having secured her slot as one of the 14 highest-ranked eligible athletes in the women’s all-around qualification in the World Artistic Championships, she is now set to be the first female gymnast from the Philippines to compete in the Olympics since 1964.
Finnegan, only 20 years old, made her debut for the Philippines just last year in the Southeast Asian Games held in Vietnam, where she impressed by winning two gold medals for the country. Now, she is excited to honor her family and her country when she graces the Paris 2024 Olympics next year.
Eumir Marcial (Boxing)
Filipino boxer Eumir Marcial secured his spot as one of the Filipinos heading for the Paris Olympics in another major international competition: the Asian Games. Having won a slot in the finals of the men’s 71-80kg event, he already qualified for next year’s Summer Games, and even more than this, he earned the opportunity to win yet another Olympic medal.
In Tokyo 2020, Marcial was a huge part of the Philippines’ biggest medal haul in Olympic history as he proudly brought home a bronze medal for his event. Come Paris 2024, will he be able to win another?
Nesthy Petecio (Boxing)
Nesthy Petecio is ready to head back to the Olympic stage. After advancing to the 57kg finals of the World Qualification Tournament for boxing on March 12, 2024, she took one of the two slots in her category, and thus, became the fifth athlete from the Philippines to book a coveted ticket to Paris. With this, she will have a chance to win yet another medal.
In the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Petecio took home the first boxing medal won by a Filipino boxer in 25 years when she won the silver medal in the women’s featherweight event. Will she be able to top this come Paris?
Aira Villegas (Boxing)
As expected, Filipino boxers represent a large chunk of the Philippine Olympic delegates, as Aira Villegas became the sixth athlete and the third boxer to qualify for Paris 2024. With a dominant performance in the quarterfinals of the World Qualifying Tournament of the year that won her a unanimous 5-0 win, she secured her slot in the Summer Games as well.
Although the other Filipino boxers competing in the same tournament, including Carlo Paalam, Claudine Veloso, Mark Ashley Fajardo, Rogen Ladon, John Marvin, Ronald Chavez Jr., Hergie Bacyadan, and Riza Pasuit, were unable to secure their tickets this time around, they will still have a chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics through the second World Qualification Tournament later this year.
John Febuar Ceniza (Weightlifting)
John Febuar Ceniza lifted his way to an Olympic qualification. With this, he becomes the third Cebuano weightlifter in history to make it to the Olympics.
After lifting 132 kilograms in snatch and 168 kilograms in clean and jerk for a total of 300 kilograms, the 26-year-old finished in fourth place in the IWF World Cup in Thailand on April 2, Tuesday, to meet the qualification standards.
Elreen Ando (Weightlifting)
Although Hidilyn Diaz was unable to qualify for the 2024 Olympics under a new weight class, the Philippines’ hopes remain alive and well as Elreen Ando has qualified for Paris.
The 25-year-old booked her place in the upcoming Summer Games as she completed a combined lift of 228kg in the 59kg weight class in the IWF World Cup in Thailand on April 3, Wednesday, edging out Olympic gold medalist Diaz.
Vanessa Sarno (Weightlifting)
The IWF World Cup is becoming a storied stage for Filipino weightlifters, as Vanessa Sarno joins the list of athletes whose performances in Thailand have won them tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Sarno topped Group B of the women’s 71kg division with a total lift of 245kg, which was enough for her to qualify for a coveted slot in the upcoming Summer Games, only granted to the top 10 weightlifters in each category. On top of this, she also set a new Philippine record in the snatch event, where she lifted 110kg.
Levi Ruivivar (Gymnastics)
Levi Ruivivar became the Philippines’ third gymnast to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, as the Filipina athlete snagged a silver medal in for the Uneven Bars event in the recent FIG World Cup held in Doha on April 20! With this, she joins fellow gymnasts, Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan on their journey to Paris.
Joanie Delgaco (Rowing)
In the rowing Olympic qualifiers in Korea, Joanie Delgaco finished fourth place in the 2000-meter event to make history as the first Filipina rower to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. She also becomes the Philippines’ 12th Olympic representative.
“Sometimes I want to give up and never believed in myself. But here I am today blessed and god answered my long time prayer,” the Filipina shared on social media after punching her ticket to Paris.
Samantha Kyle Catantan (Fencing)
The Philippines’ fencing drought is over now that Samantha Kyle Catantan has earned a spot in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. After impressively winning a gold medal in the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament on April 28, Sunday, she became the first Philippine representative for fencing since Walter Torres in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Emma Malabuyo (Gymnastics)
Emma Malabuyo may have just made her debut representing the Philippines in 2023, but already, she is eager to push the flag forward as she has booked her ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
After winning a bronze medal for the individual all-around in the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships on May 24, she became the Philippines’ fourth gymnastics representative bound for the upcoming Summer Games.
Carlo Paalam (Boxing)
Carlo Paalam is headed back for the Olympics after his silver medal finish in the Tokyo 2020 Games.
After he overcame Sachin Siwach from India in the men’s 57kg category of the 2nd Olympic Boxing Qualification Tournament in Thailand on June 1, the Filipino boxer booked his ticket to the Paris Olympics.
Hergie Bacyadan (Boxing)
Filipina boxer Hergie Bacyadan made a lasting impression after she booked her ticket to the Paris Olympics with a quarterfinal win in the women’s 75kg event in the 2nd Olympic Boxing Qualification Tournament on June 2.
With this victory, she became the fifth Filipino boxer headed for the 2024 Summer Games, making this the biggest boxing delegation of the Philippines in almost 30 years.
Kiyomi Watanabe (Judo)
Four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and Asian Games silver medalist for Judo, Kiyomi Watanabe booked her Paris 2024 Olympics ticket as she has matched the continental quotas for the -63kg category. This marks the Filipina-Japanese’s second Olympic appearance, after making her debut in Tokyo, where she reached the Round of 32.
Kayla Sanchez (Swimming)
After switching her allegiance from Canada to the Philippines, swimmer Kayla Sanchez is set to represent her Filipino roots in the Paris Olympics after being selected by Philippine Aquatics to join the country’s current delegation. This marks her second Olympics appearance after representing Canada in Tokyo 2020.
Jarod Hatch (Swimming)
Jarod Hatch is another swimmer who has impressed Philippine Aquatics, especially given his podium finish at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games, and was nominated for universality places to represent the Philippines in Paris 2024. Universality places are granted to underrepresented countries in the Olympics.
Bianca Pagdanganan
Bianca Pagdanganan is heading back to the Olympic stage once again, after making her debut in Tokyo 2020. Sitting at No. 35 on the Olympic Golf Rankings after her performances on the course so far this year, the Filipina safely made it into the 60-player list.
Dottie Ardina
This year, Dottie Ardina will officially be making her Olympic debut. As World No. 298, she secured an Olympic Golf Ranking of No. 56th, just making the 60-player list. Although this will mark her first official appearance in the Summer Games, she actually has qualified before, when she made the mark in 2016, but declined invitation due to the Zika virus outbreak at the time.
John Cabang-Tolentino
John Cabang-Tolentino joins EJ Obiena as another track and field athlete headed for Paris. Less than a month before the Olympics officially opens, the Filipino-Spanish contender qualified 30th out of 40 top athletes, which earned him a spot to compete in the men’s 110m hurdles event. With this, he will be making his Olympic debut.
Lauren Hoffman
Lauren Hoffman is yet another Filipino track and field athlete who qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and like Cabang-Tolentino, this will mark her debut at the Summer Games. Hoffman earned just enough points to grant her a 39th spot out of 40, allowing her to qualify for the women’s 400m hurdles event.
Banner images from EJ Obiena, Aleah Finnegan, and Carlos Yulo on Instagram.
Related Stories:
EJ Obiena: On Wearing the Flag and the Olympic Dream
Get To Know Emma Malabuyo: The Philippines’ New Gymnastics Talent
Cash, Incentives, Pride: What Athletes Are Gaining From Asian Games Glory