Philippine sports’ golden era is here.
The country enjoyed a banner year in sports as it won two more Olympic gold medals courtesy of gymnastics star Carlos Yulo three years after weightlifting heroine Hidilyn Diaz ended the Philippines’ near century-long search for the elusive mint.
Hare are the Philippines’ top athletes and sports moments of 2024:
Lasting impact
Age is perhaps catching up with Diaz as she failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time after four straight appearances in the Summer Games.
But Diaz has nothing more to prove — her legacy intact as her historic win in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 ushered in a golden era in Philippine sports.
Driven to replicate Diaz’s success, Yulo steered the country to its best Olympic campaign in history after capturing a pair of gold medals in the Paris Games this year.
“Ate Hidilyn gave me so much inspiration and motivation. I always carried that,” said Yulo.
Diaz also influenced the new generation of Filipino weightlifters as Elreen Ando, Vanessa Sarno, and John Ceniza qualified for Paris, with the Philippines sending its biggest weightlifting delegation to the Olympics since Samuel Alegada, Gregorio Colonia, and Ramon Solis represented the country in the 1988 Seoul Games.
There would have been four Filipino weightlifters in Paris, but Rosegie Ramos narrowly missed out on an Olympic spot in her weight category.
More are expected to come as Diaz and her coach-husband Julius Naranjo guide young weightlifters through their HD Weightlifting Academy, which has already produced champions in the Batang Pinoy.
Proven golden
Yulo earned the distinction as the “golden boy” following his countless triumphs at the regional, continental, and global levels.
He lived up to that billing on the grandest stage in sports as Yulo ruled the floor exercise and vault in Paris, becoming the Philippines’ first Olympic double gold medalist and the first Filipino to win multiple medals in a single Games.
Those feats, though, seemed unattainable months before Paris when Yulo hit one of the lowest points of his career.
After parting ways with his longtime Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya, Yulo went home empty-handed from the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships last year, marking the first time he failed to win a medal in the annual showdown following podium finishes in the four previous editions.
But Yulo’s faith in himself never wavered.
“I knew there was something in store for me. I did not give up,” said Yulo, whose life turned around overnight as the value of his rewards — including millions in incentives, real estate properties, and cars — breached P100 million.
And Yulo is far from done as he is only 24 years old.
Ring resurgence
An Olympic boxing gold remains elusive for the country, but that does not take anything away from the Philippines’ resurgence in the sport.
Boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas backstopped Yulo in leading the country to its best Olympic medal haul by each snagging a bronze in Paris.
Petecio became the first Filipino boxer to win multiple Olympic medals, while Villegas delivered in her Games debut as the Philippines sustained its momentum in the sport after bagging three boxing medals — two silvers and one bronze — in Tokyo.
It marked the first time the country medaled in boxing in consecutive Olympics since it claimed one each in the 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, and 1996 Atlanta Games, a streak followed by a medal drought in the next five editions.
Over those five editions, the Philippines qualified only 11 boxers in total.
In contrast, nine boxers donned the national colors in the last two Olympics alone, with its boxing quintet in Paris, which included Carlo Paalam, Eumir Marcial, and Hergie Bacyadan, turning out to be the biggest cast since it also fielded five boxers in 1996.
Still got it
Excellence is not only the name of the game but also longevity.
Veteran pool star Rubilen Amit possesses both as she showed she is still a force to be reckoned with after becoming the first Filipino to reign in the WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Championship this year.
Now 43 years old, Amit beat former champion Chen Siming of China in the final to redeem herself following a runner-up finish in 2007 and a pair of semifinal exits in 2018 and 2019.
Her victory came 15 years after Amit won the first of her two WPA Women’s World 10-Ball Championship crowns in 2009, a testament to her sustained greatness over the last two decades.
She also topped the WPA World Teams Championship in 2022 together with Carlo Biado and Johann Chua, who helped Team Asia beat Team Europe in the inaugural Reyes Cup — named after Filipino billiards legend Efren “Bata” Reyes — this year.
Aside from bringing the country honor, the Cebuana continues to open doors for a new breed of female cue artists through her Amit Cup.
Refreshing year
Gilas Pilipinas’ 2024 proved to be a breath of fresh air considering the struggles the national team endured for the past couple of years.
Building on the gains of its golden romp in the Asian Games last year, the squad won five of its seven games this year as it qualified for the FIBA Asia Cup and enjoyed a commendable run in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The Nationals beat a European team for the first time in 64 years when it stunned then-world No. 6 Latvia before they settled for a close loss to then-world No. 23 Georgia to advance to the OQT semifinals.
An Olympic berth, however, was not meant to be as the Filipinos fell prey to eventual OQT winner Brazil in the semifinals, a defeat in which they missed the services of 7-foot-3 big man Kai Sotto due to a rib injury.
But with Sotto — who averaged 16 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2 blocks in five healthy games this year — back in tow, Gilas Pilipinas concluded the year with a pair of emphatic wins.
The Philippines defeated New Zealand for the first time ever then whipped Hong Kong for the second time this year to punch its Asia Cup ticket even with two more games left to play in the third and final window of the qualifiers in February.
As solid as the national team has been, though, head coach Tim Cone believes his crew is only bound to get more formidable with the impending return of AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo from their injuries.
“We haven’t seen our best team yet,” said Cone.
Ripe for redemption
EJ Obiena’s 2024 did not exactly go the way he envisioned.
A back injury hampered his Olympic preparations as the pole vault ace went on to finish a heartbreaking fourth in Paris, falling just an attempt short of becoming the first Filipino to win an athletics medal in the Games since 1936.
The same back issues forced Obiena to abruptly end his season and postpone the international pole vault meet he had planned to host in the Philippines.
And yet, Obiena remains full of promise.
Still in peak form at 29 years old, Obiena is out to reclaim his No. 2 spot in the world rankings after dropping to No. 4 behind Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, USA’s Sam Kendricks, and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis, who all made up the podium in Paris.
He does not have to look far for motivation as Obiena hopes to inspire those who want to follow in his footsteps after he opened a new pole vault facility in Laoag, Ilocos Norte.
– Rappler.com