Rooted in the ancient games held in Olympia, Greece, the modern Olympic Games are the world’s foremost competition with 206 teams representing sovereign states and territories from around the globe vying for the coveted gold medal in any sport. Only the best of the best athletes get to compete in the international sporting games, which is why winners of any of the 329 medal events become a great source of pride, honor, and excellence for their home country.

Prior to the recently-held Olympic Games in Paris, France, the Philippines has won a total of one gold medal, five silvers, and eight bronze medals since its debut in the 1924 Paris Olympics. The previous Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan last 2022 witnessed Hidilyn F. Diaz securing hers and the country’s lone gold medal in the women’s 55-kilogram (kg) category in weightlifting.

This year’s edition of the Olympics saw the Philippines send 22 total athletes across nine different disciplines including rowing, boxing, weightlifting, gymnastics, athletics, fencing, golf, swimming, and judo, with Tokyo 2020 silver medalists Nesthy A. Petecio and Carlo Paalam as flag bearers.

Aiming to match — or even surpass — the country’s performance in the prior games, this year’s team won two golds and two bronze medals and has landed 37^th in the Olympic medal chart. With this historic Olympic run, the Philippines earned its highest Olympic ranking since the 1964 Tokyo Games, where the country finished 30^th with a single silver medal.

After a somewhat disappointing performance in the 2020 Games, Filipino gymnast Carlos P. Yulo bounced back in spectacular fashion reaching the finals of three artistic gymnastic events namely: the individual all-around, floor exercise, and vault competitions.

To start his campaign for a gold medal, Mr. Yulo stumbled as he dismounted during the pommel horse portion of the individual all-around final and scored a measly 11.900. Making up for the disheartening first rotation, the Filipino gymnast followed up with a score of 13.933 in the rings, a solid 14.766 in the vault, 14.500 in the parallel bars, 13.600 in the horizontal bar, and a 14.333 in the floor exercise. Overall, Mr. Yulo overcame a slow start and finished in 12^th place.

For his second finals event, the Filipino gymnast had to face Tokyo gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat of Israel and qualification stage first-placer Jake Jarman of Great Britain in the men’s floor exercise.

In a historic moment that secured the country’s second Olympic gold medal ever, Mr. Yulo stuck his three-and-a-half twist dismount, capped by his signature double fist pump towards the judges and a salute to fans in Paris. His performance gave him a score of 15.000, narrowly beating out Mr. Dolgopyat (14.966) and Mr. Jarman (14.933) who won silver and bronze, respectively.

Going for back-to-back gold medals, the Filipino gymnast headed to the vault competition brimming with confidence, as seen in his performance at the event. For his first vault, Mr. Yulo attempted and landed one of only two 6.0-difficulty valued vaults in the competition. His piked Dragulescu, two front flips with a half twist at the end of the move in a pike position, earned him a score of 15.433.

Mr. Yulo then executed a triple twist for his second vault with enough precision to give him a score of 14.800. This brought his total score to 15.116 to give him the lead in the event, which he never relinquished en route to his second gold medal in less than 24 hours and the country’s third all-time.

Meanwhile, in the boxing ring, the Philippines’ biggest boxing delegation since the 1996 Atlanta Games was out in a quest to finally capture the country’s first boxing gold medal. Alongside Ms. Petecio and Mr. Paalam were Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Eumir DS. Marcial and two debutants, Hergy Bacyadan and Aira Villegas.

Hoping to improve upon his performance from the prior games, Mr. Marcial suffered a devastating defeat in points at the hands of Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev in the round of 16 of the men’s 80 kg division.

Meanwhile, Mr. Paalam bid farewell to his Olympic gold medal dreams after losing in the quarterfinals to Australia’s Charlie Senior via split decision in the men’s 57 kg division. Additionally, Ms. Bacyadan failed to pull off the upset against Li Qian of China in a unanimous decision loss in the round of 16 of the women’s 75 kg.

However, not all was lost for the boxing team, as Ms. Villegas and Ms. Petecio each won their round of 16 and quarterfinal matches to advance to the semifinals of their respective divisions.

During her semifinal match at the women’s 50 kg division, Ms. Villegas settled for bronze after a spirited fight against the more experienced Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkiye who dominated in the ring and the scorecards winning via unanimous decision with three judges scoring the match 30-27 while the remaining two with 30-26.

In another heart-stopping match, Ms. Petecio fell short against Poland’s Julia Szeremeta, losing via a split decision in their women’s 57 kg boxing semifinal bout. Despite the upset defeat, her valiant effort earned her a well-deserved bronze medal as she became one of only four Filipinos with at least two medals in the quadrennial games.

Aside from these three medalists, several Filipino athletes also came agonizingly close to securing podium finishes. World No. 2 pole vaulter Ernest John U. Obiena faulted on his third attempt to clear 5.95 meters as he lost the bronze to Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis.

Additionally, Filipino golfers Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina showed out in their competition. Ms. Pagdanganan, in particular, ranked third after finishing the final round six-under 282 with only a few golfers remaining. This moment, however, will be short-lived as China’s Xiyu Lin birdied in her final hole to close with seven-under 281 and snatch the bronze medal. Meanwhile, Ms. Ardina carded a three-under 285 to respectably place 13^th in her Olympic debut.

With heavy expectations after Ms. Diaz’s triumph in the prior games, Filipina weightlifter Eireen Q. Ando placed sixth in the women’s weightlifting 59-kg division after lifting a total of 230 kgs, just five shy of a medal finish. Fellow weightlifters Vanessa Sarno and John Ceniza bowed out early after failing to lift in the snatch portion of the women’s 71 kg and men’s 61 kg weightlifting event, respectively.

Other Filipino athletes who also competed in this year’s Olympics include: Lauren Hoffman and John Cabang Tolentino in athletics; Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, and Levi Jung-Ruivvar in women’s artistic gymnastics; Kayla Sanchez and Jarod Hatch in swimming; Joannie Delgaco in rowing; Samantha Catantan in fencing; and Kiyomi Watanabe in judo.

As the 2024 Paris Olympics concludes and the world sets its sights for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in the United States, the Philippines can take immense pride in its golden generation of athletes who, for two consecutive Olympics, have showcased to the world what Filipinos can do. With two golds and two bronze medals, this year’s Olympic journey, in a precise twist of fate, has been nothing short of historic. — Jomarc Angelo M. Corpuz