SPORTS SHORTS 181: HIDILYN DIAZ WINS THE PHILIPPINES' FIRST OLYMPIC GOLD AFTER 97 YEARS, CARLO PAALAM AND NESTHY PETECIO ADVANCE TO THE NEXT ROUND
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 27 Jul 2021
It's been 97 years since the Philippines participated its first Olympics with lone entry sprinter David Nepomuceno. Now the almost never-ending wait for an Olympic gold medal is over after Hidilyn Diaz championed in the women's 55kg weightlifting at Tokyo 2020.
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The 30-year-old Zamboanga City-born athlete lifted 127kg in her last attempt at clean and jerk for a total of 224kg, to overcome world record holder Liao Qiuyun of China whose 223kg total was edged only by one kg. It was an exhilarating battle that resulted in a historic victory for the country. Diaz then set new Olympic records.
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The Philippines won its first bronze medal four years after it entered the Olympics in 1924 Amsterdam Games through Teofilo Yldefonso's third-place finish in the men's 200m breaststroke. The country took its first silver medal at Tokyo in 1964 courtesy of Anthony Villanueva in the men's featherweight boxing.
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After 32 years, the Philippines won another silver medal at Atlanta in 1996 through Mansueto Velasco in the light flyweight boxing. The third silver was won at Rio de Janeiro in 2016, after 20 years, with Diaz placing second in the 53kg weightlifting category.
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During the gold medal ceremony for Hidilyn Diaz, the Lupang Hinirang was played for the first time in an Olympic medal ceremony.
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She will receive a total of P33 million in cash incentives in the form of pledges from business tycoons Manuel V. Pangilinan and Ramon Ang, who both promised P10 million for the gold medalist, and from Cong. Mikee Romero, who will add P3 million.
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The Philippine government through Republic Act 10699 also guarantees Diaz P10 million pesos. Diaz was the gold medalist in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, 2015 Phuket Asian Championships, and the 2019 Manila Southeast Asian Games.
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Liao settled for the silver, while Kazakhstan's Zulfiya Chinshanlo took the bronze by lifting 213kg in the Tokyo Olympics weightlifting competition.
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Carlo Paalam sustained the victories of the boxers from the Philippines in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, snatching a split decision triumph over Ireland’s Brendan Irvine on Monday at Kokugikan Arena.
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The Filipino went off to a swift start, piling up points at the first two rounds. “I’m thankful that I won my first bout,” Paalam told reporters. “Even if it was close, you saw I really gave it whatever I had left in me.”
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But Paalam managed to maintain a pivotal lead in the second round that assisted him in preventing Irvine’s attacks in the later rounds.
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Paalam will see action again on Saturday against Algeria's Mohamed Flissi. He was declared the winner on a 4-1 split decision, with the judges scoring 30-27, 29-28, 28-29, 30-27, 29-28 in favor of the Filipino victor.
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The Cagayan de Oro born boxer astounded the taller Irvine with pugnacious punches, gaining the nod of all five judges, 10-9, in the first round.
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Paalam countered when the Irish foe would connect his punches. He looked tired in the third round, but Paalam survived the final stanza, landing his powerful right jabs that eliminated Irvine in the preliminaries.
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Petecio unleashed a late barrage of blows to beat top-seeded Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting, 3-2, and reach the featherweight quarterfinals of the boxing competition in the Tokyo Olympics.
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The 29-year-old Petecio got the first round but was hit in the second round by two clear power shots by the taller Taiwanese boxer, making the bout even at the start of the third bell.
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Nesthy Petecio then moved to a win away from securing a medal in the Tokyo Olympics. A win by Petecio in the quarterfinals will make her at least a bronze medalist.
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Margielyn Didal was unable to seize a medal in skateboarding for the Philippines' first Final battle in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Didal ended up in seventh place among eight skaters with a final score of 7.52.
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Nishiya Momiji of Japan won the women's street skateboarding event. She is just 13 years old, and is now one of the youngest gold medal winners in Olympic history.
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She is just months older than the current female record-holder, American diver Marjorie Gestring, who was 13 years and 267 days old when she won gold medal at the Berlin Olympics in 1936.
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Top ten Olympic medal standings:
Country-Gold-Silver-Bronze-Total
1. Japan 8-2-3-13
2. United States 7-3-4-14
3. China 6-5-7-18
4. ROC 4-5-3-12
5. Great Britain 3-3-1-7
6. South Korea 3-0-4-7
7. Australia 2-1-3-6
8. Kosovo 2-0-0-2
9. Italy 1-4-4-9
10. France 1-2-2-5
16. Philippines 1-0-0-1
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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