In 2024, the nation celebrated its 100th year of participation in the Summer Olympics in Paris with a pair of female boxers punching their way to success and a pocket-sized gymnast from a Manila neighborhood giving a performance of a lifetime.
It’s safe to say that the year 2024 will go down in Philippine sports history as a season of great triumphs.
Carlos Yulo’s golden moment
At the boisterous Bercy Arena in Paris, Carlos Yulo's perseverance and sacrifices finally paid off as he defeated pre-tournament favorites Artem Dolgopyat of Israel and rising star Jake Jarman of Great Britain to win his first gold medal in a floor exercise competition.
A few days later, Yulo made history by defeating both Harry Hepworth of Great Britain and Artur Davtyan of Armenia to win his unprecedented second Olympic gold medal in the vault competition.
With additional benefits including homes, residential lots, condominiums, sports utility vehicles, a lifetime supply of gasoline, and other commercial endorsements in his back pocket, Yulo had more than P100 million more money as the nation celebrated his win.
Boxers win big
Boxers Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio also took home bronze in the Paris Summer Games.
After defeating China's Xu Zichun in the women's 57 kg quarterfinals, Petecio won bronze. However, she lost to Julia Szeremeta of Poland via split decision in the semifinals. After winning a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Petecio also became the first Filipino boxer to earn multiple Olympic medals.
Meanwhile, in the women's 50 kg semifinals of her Olympic debut, Villegas lost to Turkish boxer Buse Naz Cakiroglu to take bronze.
New beginning for Gilas
Under the guidance of Tim Cone, who was hired as coach in January of last year, Gilas Pilipinas, the nation's national basketball team, enjoyed a successful year.
In the FIBA Olympic Qualifying, the resurgent team instantly showed its teeth after defeating Latvia, ranked sixth, in a historic upset at the home court in Riga to pick up the nation's first victory over a European team in sixty-four years.
Gilas also trounced New Zealand 93-89 in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers held in Manila in November. After losing all four of their prior FIBA games, it was the first time the Philippines had triumphed over the Tall Blacks. Gilas finished the qualification window with an outstanding 4-0 record in the Asia Cup qualifiers after their thrilling victory over the Kiwis.
Other wins
In other sports, Daniel Quizon also won the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Hungary last September, making him the most recent Filipino Grandmaster.
Filipino cue artists continue to be among the greatest in the world, as evidenced by Carlo Biado's victory in the World 10-Ball Championship in March and Rubilen Amit's dominance in the WPA Women's World 9-Ball Championship in September.
Golf sensation Rianne Malixi created history by winning the US Girls and US Amateur championships in the same year. Only South Korean Eun Jeong Seong accomplished this in 2016.
