MANILA – Four Filipino boxers will now carry the country’s colors in the boxing competition of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics following the qualification of amateur fighters Nesthy Petecio, and Carlo Paalam.
The International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force (IOC-BTF) confirmed the Olympic qualification of Petecio and Paalam in a communication sent to the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) on Friday afternoon.
According to IOC-BTF, Petecio and Paalam earned the nod to play in the Olympiad slated this July in Tokyo, Japan by virtue of their highest standing in their respective weight categories.
“I just want to thank the Lord for everything,” Petecio told Panay News after her training in Thailand last night. “I just feel blessed and thankful to be given a chance to compete in Tokyo Olympics.”
Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) president Ricky Vargas, in a separate statement, expressed elation over Petecio and Paalam’s qualification and rallied the Filipino people to throw their full support behind their campaign.
“Let us all come together and focus on the challenges ahead not only of our boxers but all Filipino athletes. Now, more than ever, they need us to stand firmly behind them,” Vargas said.
Aside from Petecio and Paalam, other Filipino boxers who have qualified to the Tokyo Olympics were professional fighter Eumir Felix Marcial and Ilongga amateur boxer Irish Magno.
Marcial and Magno booked their Olympics tickets following their strong showing during the Asian-Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers held in Amman, Jordan before the pandemic last year.
In Tokyo Olympics, Marcial will compete in the men’s middleweight class (75 kg), Magno in the women’s flyweight (52 kg), Petecio in the women’s featherweight (57 kg), and Paalam in the men’s flyweight class (52kg).
Overall, there are already six Filipino athletes in the Olympiad with the earlier qualifications of pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena and gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo./PN
