When she qualified for the Paris Olympics, Filipino-Ivorian fencer Maxine Esteban embraced all the possibilities — including a possible face-off with her former teammate Sam Catantan.

Glowing in white tank top and jeans, the 23-year-old Esteban took time out of her busy training schedule in Europe to support the Philippines when it battled Australia in the AVC Challenge Cup late Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

She was spotted holding a Philippine flag while cheering her heart out for Alas Pilipinas, which hammered a four-set victory over the taller, heftier Australians.

Despite her affiliation with Ivory Coast, Esteban asserted that she would forever be a Filipino.

“I’m very proud because I think coming to the Olympics, I will be representing both countries: The Philippines and Ivory Coast. As you know, you can never really take away the Filipino in me. I will forever be a Filipino,” said Esteban, an eight-time national champion in women’s foil before the Philippine Fencing Federation dropped her from the national team.

“I’m very thankful that Filipinos are still supporting me. I hope they continue supporting not only me, but the rest of the national delegation going to the Olympics.”

Esteban is facing an uphill climb in her first ever Olympic stint that starts on 27 July at the Grand Palais in the French capital.

She is now training in Germany under the watchful eyes of Andrea Magro, the 62-year-old Italian fencing guru who is responsible for helping countless athletes win Olympic medals.

Soon, she will be flying to Poland for training before going to Paris to join the Japanese and French national squads in putting finishing touches in their respective preparations.

She said she knows that winning the gold medal will not be easy, but she will work hard and do everything to make her two countries — the Philippines and Ivory Coast — proud.

“It’s very exciting to compete in the Olympics. I’m now based in Germany, where I am training and joining a lot of competitions,” she told a handful of volleyball reporters.

“Then, we’ll have training in Poland before going to Paris for a training camp with the Japanese and the French national teams.”

But the elephant in the room was her potential encounter with Catantan, who will represent the Filipinos in the women’s foil events of the Summer Games.

Instead of getting worried, Esteban just displayed a humble smile.

“Everyone who qualified for the Olympics, they’re really good fencers. So just like Sam (Catantan), she would be a worthy fencer to fence against and it would be an honor to fence against her,” Esteban said, adding that clashing with Catantan in the medal round will definitely be a proud moment for the Filipinos.

“And, I’m really looking forward, if ever that time comes. Well, hopefully, we won’t meet in the early stages. Maybe we should face each other in the finals (instead).”

Estaban added that facing Catantan in the latter part of the tourney is very possible.

After all, the Filipinos have what it takes to shine in the international arena.

“The Filipino talent is really great, like, there’s really so much talent in the Philippines and I hope that the government can continue to support Filipino athletes so more people get qualified in sports,” she said.

“I hope that they can get more budget to train more and get more experience and compete in more competitions because you gain more confidence if you compete more. The talent in the Philippines is really great. I hope that they can use this talent to send more fencers to the Olympics.”