Red, Blue, and Gold: The Pride of Philippine Olympic Sports

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— Heart Velasco 

THE PHILIPPINE HEAT BURNS NO HOTTER THAN ITS ACHIEVERS. Throughout the history of Philippine sports, Filipinos were said to heavily lack exposure to much more competitive sports until the introduction of basketball in 1910, which then became the nationally acclaimed sport albeit many claiming that the Filipinos were simply not made to excel in sports heavily reliant on one’s anatomy. In spite of such circumstances, the Philippines was the first southeast asian country to compete at the Olympics in 1924, and the first to successfully win a medal four years after. This year, the Filipino pride comes home in the form of 19 Olympians who brought home the red and blue flag shrouded in varying tones of medals, broken olympic records, and new hope for the young aspiring athletes in the country. 



Opening the list as the boldest addition to Philippines’ Summer Olympic medalists, HIDILYN DIAZ took the Philippine media trends in one clean sweep as she brought home the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal in the women’s 55kg class in weightlifting. Diaz stood proudly on the podium with tears as the Lupang Hinirang started to play out for the world to hear. She then took to social media to show her  support for her fellow athletes aiming to take home another gold as she said, “laban lang team Pilipinas, go for gold.”

[See here: https://twitter.com/inquirerdotnet/status/1421434938063167490?s=20]


“This win is also for you,” says the first female medallist in boxing, NESTHY PETECIO, bearing her silver medal in the women’s featherweight final. Albeit reaching an impressive podium finish, Petecio announces that the fight for gold is still on and they will be coming for it at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.


Assuring the Philippines of their third medal comes EUMIR MARCIAL barreling in with his bronze medal in the men’s middleweight boxing. Marcial details how painful it is to be unable to seize a gold medal at the end of his 2020 Olympic journey but declares that he is opening the door for a possible return at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

[See here: https://twitter.com/rapplerdotcom/status/1423531145547948033?s=20]


The last of the Philippines’ podium finishers, CARLO PAALAM secured the Philippines its fourth Olympic medal as he bagged the silver medal in the men's flyweight finals. Mere minutes after his win, the Philippines was abuzz with praise for Paalam as they declared him not only a winner of the Olympics, but also a champion of his life.


The feat of this year’s Olympians set the Philippines’ best Olympic performance since our nation's debut at the 1924 Olympics. This leaves a total of 12 Olympic medals for the Philippines with the addition of the four Olympic medals. In addition to Diaz’ ending the 97 year drought for a gold medal, the 2020 Summer Olympic Games also paved the way for new broken records. Luke Gebbie and Elreen Ando are among those who were able to set new records, with the former surpassing the record he set himself. For our Olympic athletes who were unable to make a podium finish: heads up, kababayan. This is not the end of your battles.


This fever brought by the current Summer Olympic wins bears the newfound anticipation and support for the coming athletes at the Winter Olympics. Figure skater Michael Martinez’ social media post from April went viral days after Diaz’ historical win, in which Filipinos poured their support in his fundraising campaign for his 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics training. Margielyn  Didal of women's skateboarding and Carlos Yulo of gymnastics recently made international trends as they made a break for the hearts of the crowd with their charm in the Olympics following their respective sports. 


The 2020 Philippine Olympic team’s laud notable contribution to the Philippine sports does not only end with the medals and records they have accumulated, but also in the feats they have accomplished for themselves and for the country’s sports industry. May their passion influence the country’s reverence for our unacknowledged athletes, and for breaking the gender stereotypes caging our kababayans. This goes to show that the journey of an athlete is not simply a fight for recognition of one’s own, but an emboldenment of the generation after him. May the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games achievements of the Philippines spearhead the change in the sports for the better, until the world recognizes: "Ang Pilipinas ay duyan ng magiting." 


Sources: 

https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/news/philippines-tokyo-2020-olympics-medal-winners

https://www.rappler.com/sports/things-to-know-members-team-philippines-tokyo-olympics

https://mb.com.ph/2021/07/31/malacanang-celebrates-filipino-athletes-triumph-in-tokyo-olympics/

https://peoplaid.com/2021/07/24/complete-list-of-filipino-athletes-for-tokyo-olympics-2021/

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