Team Philippines savored the best Olympic run in its 100-year participation history, winning the most medals for the country, including two golds, a first-time feat.
Gymnast Carlos Yulo will bring home two gold medals from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, and Filipina fighters Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas will bring home one bronze medal apiece, going down in history as the Philippines' finest Olympic performance ever.
The nation surpassed its own record medal total from Tokyo 2021 with its two gold and two bronze performances in Paris.
Heroic efforts
Team Philippines placed No. 35 overall in the medal race to be the best performer among Southeast Asian countries, surpassing Indonesia, which took home two golds and a bronze, and Thailand.
Despite only winning four medals in 329 out of the 32 sports, the nation exceeded its previous best of one gold, two silver, and one bronze from the COVID-postponed 2021 Tokyo Games.
The last time the Philippines won several medals before the Tokyo Games was in Los Angeles in 1932 when the Filipino delegation placed third on the podium three times.
Moving forward
Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino, president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, believes the nation's victorious campaign in Paris will be difficult to top.
“That’s why work for Los Angeles in 2028 starts now,” said Tolentino “The template applied in gymnastics and boxing has been tested and proven again in Paris."
Having a team of coaches, physiotherapists, nutritionists, strength and conditioning specialists, and others is the key to the formula for national associations, according to Tolentino.
Presently, the Philippines holds three gold, five silver, and ten bronze medals overall in its 100-year run in Olympics.
