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| POC president Bambol Tolentino chats with Carlos Yulo, the "golden boy" for the Philippines in the Paris Olympics. PSC-POC Media Pool (file photo) |
MANILA--The Philippine "Centennial Team" has already concluded their 100th year of Olympic attendance with a historic remembrance through the convincing and unifying efforts from Carlos Yulo, Aira Villegas, and Nesthy Petecio as well as other superb performances from the rest of the 22-man Philippine delegation in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Although this year's medal haul tied their previous one last Tokyo Games with four medals composed of one gold, two silver, and a bronze, the Paris Olympic campaign was more phenomenal, earning two gold and two bronze medals which also unlocked some historical accolades and achievements.
Yulo, who earned two gold medals in the men's artistic gymnastics, became the first male Pinoy athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, the first Pinoy medalist in the sport of gymnastics, and the first Pinoy back-to-back gold medalist in a single Olympics.
Petecio and her co-pugilist Villegas collected both bronze medals in their respective women's boxing campaigns.
Petecio and Yulo became the third and fourth Filipino athletes who earned two Olympic medals.
The first was Teofilo Yldefonso, who won his back-to-back bronze medals in swimming way back in 1928 and 1932, while the weightlifting fairy, Hidilyn Diaz, clinched a silver medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and gave the country its first-ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo back in 2021.
Villegas and Yulo will be the Philippine flag bearers for the closing ceremonies to happen early Monday morning (Philippine time).
Philippines leads ASEAN for 2nd straight Olympics
As of 5:30 a.m., the Philippines is placed 35th in the overall medal standings, seventh in Asia, and officially the top team in the Southeast Asian zone for the second straight occasion regardless of the outcome of the Sunday games.
Indonesia trailed behind after collecting three medals - two golds and a bronze, followed by Thailand who amassed six medals - a gold, two silver, and two bronze, Malaysia with two bronze medals, and Singapore, which only snatched one bronze medal.
Vietnam, who was hailed as the overall winner of the 2022 and 2023 Southeast Asian Games, hauled none of the Olympic medals.
Incentives, heroes' parade await Team Philippines
Under Republic Act 10699 or National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, Olympic gold medalists are entitled to P10 million from the Philippine Sports Commission. Silver medalists get P5 million and bronze medalists P2 million.
Since Yulo won the golden double, he is entitled to a P20 million incentive alongside a P6 million promise from the House of Representatives, P2 million from the City of Manila, and other pledges and incentives from private companies, conglomerates, and businesses.
The City of Manila also promised to give EJ Obiena an incentive of P500,000 despite a fourth-place finish in the men's pole vault.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is expected to welcome the delegation at the Malacanang Palace and give an incentive to the 22-man Olympic delegation on Tuesday night.
Before that, upon arrival at NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay, the national team will proceed to PICC to meet with some government officials.
The Philippines is now set to shift its focus for the 2028 Los Angeles Games with some uncertainties as boxing is now on the brink of not being included in the list of sporting events.
Boxing is one of the medal-rich events for the Philippines as the country pocketed 10 Olympic medals already, although the gold remained elusive.
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