Team Phl eyes another shot at fame, glory

The team that delivered the country’s best ever performance is expected to make another run in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Double gold medalist Carlos Yulo will be back together with a slew of young Filipino athletes who are expected to sustain the glory achieved during the Paris Olympics that formally came to a close on Sunday at Stade de France.

Yulo, who stunned the world when he ruled the floor exercise and vault apparatus of the previous Summer Games, still has a lot of gas left on his tank at 24 years old.

By the time the next edition of the Olympics opens at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on 14 July 2028, Yulo will just be 28 and is expected to be supported by some of the brightest young Filipino gymnasts led by his younger brother, Eldrew, and Southeast Asian Games standouts Juancho Miguel Besana and Ivan Cruz.

Filipino-American gymnasts like 21-year-old Aleah Finnegan, 21-year-old Emma Malabuyo and 18-year-old Levi Ruivivar are also expected to make another run provided that they make the grade in the qualifiers.

“I’m really grateful that I didn’t quit,” said Yulo, a week after achieving his life-changing feat.

“There are still things up next. I won’t stop yet and I still want to compete in the Olympics in 2028 in LA. I will do my best in training and the challenges next time.”

Also inching towards making another run in LA is Obiena.

Obiena said he is not yet looking far but competing in the next Olympics is always a possibility, especially after his heartbreaking performance in Paris, where he tumbled out of the medal podium despite being ranked as No. 2 pole vaulter in the world.

“I really am taking it one day at a time, seeing what exactly fuels my fire,” said the 28-year-old Obiena, whose bid in the Paris Games was slowed down by a spine injury.

“The reason why I can’t give you guys the answer that you guys I think want to have is just that I don’t want to lie. I don’t want to go and say, yeah, we’re gunning right away, this and that.”

Obiena’s adviser in American James Lafferty said Obiena will still be a force to be reckoned with in the next Olympics event at 32.

“In pole vault, 32 is still pretty young,” he said.

“Tim Mack won his first Olympic gold in Athens when he was already 33. Sam (Kendricks) is already 32, and he had his best finish just yet. So yes, I think EJ can still do it.”

Aside from Yulo and Obiena, other members of Team Philippines who are expected to return to compete in the next edition of the Games are weightlifters John Ceniza, Elreen Ando and Vanessa Sarno, golfer Bianca Pagdanganan, fencer Samantha Catantan, rower Joanie Delgaco, and boxer Aira Villegas.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said the Filipino athletes have raised the bar so high in Paris that they have to work doubly hard to sustain the glory in Los Angeles.

“Work for Los Angeles 2028 starts now,” said Tolentino, who will join the national athletes in leaving the French capital on Monday before meeting President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos in a homecoming party on Tuesday at the Philippine International Convention Center to celebrate the success they had in Paris.

“The template applied in weightlifting, gymnastics and boxing has been tested and proven again in Paris. We will encourage all national sports associations to apply a similar template.”

But not everybody will be returning for another tour of duty.

Olympic medalists Nesthy Petecio and Eumir Marcial doubt their participation in the Los Angeles Games.

Petecio, who settled for a bronze medal in the women’s 57-kilogram event, admitted that time is no longer at her side as she will be pushing 36 by the time Los Angeles hosts the Summer Games.

“For the LA Olympics, we’re already getting old. I’ll be 36 around that time. Although my heart still wants to win the gold, it still depends on my body,” Petecio said.

The 28-year-old Marcial, for his part, is also facing career crossroads as he is seriously contemplating on going full blast with his professional career.

“I really don’t know how to start again: In the amateur to make another run for Olympic gold or just focus on being a professional boxer,” Marcial said after suffering a Round of 16 exit in the men’s 80-kg class.