Philippines’ Olympics gold drought ends, tops ASEAN countries in ranking

TOKYO OLYMPICS

Hidilyn Diaz Weightlifting—Womens 55kg

THE PHILIPPINES TOPS ASEAN COUNTRIES IN RANKING

Text by Gloria Hernandez Photo by Paolo del Rosario/Cignal TV

Almost a century since the Philippines sent its first contingent to the quadrennial sports event in 1924, the country is yet to clinch an Olympic gold medal until this year when weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz snatched the elusive award.

Nesthy Petecio Boxing—Women's Feather Weight

Photo by Paolo del Rosario/Cignal TV

Carlo Paalam Boxing—Men's Fly Weight

Photo by Paolo del Rosario/Cignal TV

An experienced Olympian, Hidilyn delivered the country’s maiden gold after lifting the combined weight of 224 kilograms in the women’s 55-kg class. She also set an Olympics record. She improved her previous performance at the Rio Olympics in 2016 where she won silver medal in the same event.

This year’s Olympic feat also featured the first Filipino female boxer who won a silver. Nesthy Petecio reached the semi-final of the featherweight division that ensured her of the medal haul.

Another silver was contributed by boxer Carlo Paalam who secured the medal after defeating Ryomei Tanaka of Japan at the semi-final match of the men’s flyweight division.

On the other hand, Eumir Felix Marcial, the lone professional boxer among the boxing contingent, snatched the bronze medal following the win in the quarterfinal match at the middleweight division.

RP leads ASEAN in Tokyo Olympics ranking

The two-week sporting event also landed the Philippines on top of the ranking among the members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with one gold, two silvers, and one bronze medals. It ranked 50th at the overall Olympic Medal Rankings.

Philippines bested for the first time in medal ranking its fellow ASEANs; In-

Eumir Marcial Boxing—Men's Middle Weight

Photo by Paolo del Rosario/Cignal TV

donesia ranked 55th, Thailand followed at 59th place and Malaysia at 74th place. Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, and Vietnam failed to earn any medal during the competition. Thailand snatched the top post during the Rio Olympics in 2016 with two gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. Considered as the country’s best ever performance in the Olympics, it was believed that the players were buoyed up by their stellar finish at the 2019 SEA Games when Philippines was the overall champion after garnering 149 gold, 117 silver, and 121 bronze medals.

Nineteen players, all first time Olympians, except for Hidilyn, competed in various disciplines at the international sports event that was delayed due to the pandemic. There are four in the boxing, three in golf, two in swimming, two in weightlifting, and one each in pole vaulting, gymnastics, skateboarding, judo, rowing, taekwondo, sprinting, and shooting. Skateboarding, meanwhile, is a new game introduced at the recently concluded competition.

History records showed that the Philippines was the first country in the Southeast Asia to join the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924 and subsequently, the first to win a medal in 1928. Swimmer Teofilo Yldefonse won bronze in the Men’s 200-meter breaststroke at the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands. There were 206 countries that participated in this year’s Olympics with a total of 11,091 athletes that competed in 41 different sports and 339 events.