A total of 22 athletes will be representing the Philippines at the Summer Games.
From July 26 to August 11, 22 Filipino athletes will be competing at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France.
The Philippines will be participating in nine sports including boxing, fencing, golf, gymnastics, judo, rowing, swimming, track and field, and weightlifting.
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Here’s a quick rundown of all the athletes competing for the Philippines.
Boxing
The Philippines has five boxers competing at the Paris Olympics. Silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam will be the country’s flag bearers.
Eumir Marcial was the first to qualify for this year’s Olympics when he reached the final of the men’s middleweight division at the 2022 Asian Games. Marcial has won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships among others.
Next, Aira Villegas (women’s flyweight) and Petecio (women’s featherweight) both qualified after winning at the 2024 World Olympic Qualification Tournament 1.
This year marks Villegas’ Olympic debut. Meanwhile, this is Petecio’s second shot at the Summer Games, after becoming the first Filipino woman to win an Olympic medal in boxing.
Paalam (men’s featherweight) and Hergie Bacyadan (women’s middleweight) both qualified by winning the quota bouts at the second Olympic Qualification Tournament. Like Petecio, Paalam debuted at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, also taking home a silver medal.
As for Bacyadan, who is also a martial artist, this is his first time competing in the Olympics. The boxing competition opens on July 27 with medal rounds beginning August 3 up to August 10.
Fencing
The Philippines has only one athlete competing in fencing, the first since 1992. The 22-year-old Samantha Catantan is a right-handed foil fencer making her Olympic debut. She qualified after winning individual events at the 2024 Asia and Oceania Zonal Qualifying Tournament in Dubai, UAE.
Catantan first represented the Philippines at the 2017 SEA Games where she won a silver medal at only 15 years old. At the 2021 edition, she took home the gold medal. The women’s foil tournament at the Olympics begins on July 28.
Golf
Two Filipina golfers qualified for the Olympics this year, Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina, who placed 35th and 55th among 60 qualified players respectively. Both golfers qualified after the results of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
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The pair refer to themselves as Team BombDot com on Instagram. On social media, Pagdanganan shared that “It’s an honor and a blessing to represent my home country at the highest level.”
The women’s golf tournament runs from August 7 to 10 following the men’s competition.
Gymnastics
The Philippines has entered four gymnasts at this year’s Olympics. This is Carlos Yulo’s second shot at the Summer Olympic Games after placing fourth in the vault at the 2020 edition in Tokyo, Japan.
With multiple other international medals under his belt, Yulo continues to be the most successful Filipino gymnast in history.
Meanwhile, three Filipina gymnasts are making history as the first to qualify for the Summer Olympics since 1964. Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, and Levi Ruivivar are all Filipino-Americans who have competed for both countries.
Finnegan has been representing the Philippines in international competitions since 2022. Meanwhile, both Malabuyo and Ruivivar announced their decision to compete for the Philippines in 2023. All three have been documenting their Olympic journey on Instagram and TikTok.
The gymnastics events are scheduled to run from July 27 until August 5.
Judo
For Judo, only Filipino-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe is competing for the Philippines in the Olympics. She first represented the country at the 2011 SEA Games, where she went on to win gold for the country at the 2013 edition.
This is Watanabe’s second time at the Olympics, following the 2020 edition in Tokyo, Japan. Her event, the women’s -63kg competition, will happen on July 30.
Rowing
Joanie Delgaco makes history as the first female rower to represent the Philippines at the Olympics. Delgaco has won several medals at the SEA Games as well as a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Rowing Beach Sprint Championships.
The rower qualified for the women’s single sculls event after competing in the 2024 Asia & Oceania Qualification Regatta. The rowing competitions run from July 27 to August 3.
Swimming
Kayla Sanchez and Jarod Hatch both got nominations from the Philippine Aquatics, Inc. to receive the universality places from World Aquatics.
After being granted the request, Sanchez will be competing in the women’s 100m freestyle while Hatch is taking a shot at the men’s 100m butterfly.
Sanchez is a two-time Olympic medalist who competed for the Canadian team at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She started representing the Philippines in 2022.
While Hatch was born in the United States, he’s been part of the Philippine national team since 2018. He currently holds the Philippine national record for the men’s 100m butterfly. The swimming events start on July 27 and end on August 4.
Track and Field
Competing in the men’s pole vault tournament, EJ Obiena qualified for the Paris Olympics earlier this month after participating in the Diamond League.
He made his Olympic debut in the 2020 Summer Games where he advanced to the final of the pole vault competition. Obiena currently ranks second in the world in men’s pole vault.
Meanwhile, hurdlers John Cabang and Lauren Hoffman both qualified for the Olympics through their world rankings.
Cabang currently holds the national record in 110m hurdles and will compete in the same event at the Olympics. Filipino-American Hoffman began representing the Philippines in 2023 at the Asian Games and will be competing in women’s 400m hurdles in Paris.
The track and field events begin on August 1 and will run until the 11th.
Weightlifting
Three weightlifters will be representing the Philippines at the Paris Olympics, John Ceniza (men’s 61 kg), Elreen Ando (women’s 59 kg), and Vanessa Sarno (women’s 71 kg). Each of them secured a spot in the top 10 in their respective weight divisions based on the IWF Olympic Qualification Rankings.
This is Ando’s second time at the Olympics while this year marks Ceniza and Sarno’s debuts. Hidilyn Diaz, who won the Philippines’ first gold medal, failed to qualify after moving up to Ando’s weight division. All three weightlifters have won medals on the international stage.
“All of this is for the country, too,” Sarno told Vogue Philippines. “To hear the national anthem of the Philippines in these competitions… it feels so great to represent your country.”
The weightlifting competitions will run from August 7 to 11.
Banner image via Instagram @adidasph and @olympic.ph.
