HAIL, CESAR!

DAKAR, Senegal — Finishing fourth was never in her plans so Naomi Marjorie Cesar saved her best for last and with an enormous burst of speed in the homestretch to snatch the women’s 800-meter run silver medal behind an Ethiopian runner for Team Philippines’ first medal in the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

“I worked so hard for this so I told myself I’m not going to come home in fourth place,” said Cesar after one of the day’s athletics final witnessed by a jampacked crowd at the Complexe Iba Mar Diop Stadium located in the heart of the Senegalese capital here.

The final was close to predictable with Ethiopia’s Netsanet Selemon and Cesar brandishing personal bests good for the top two places on the podium.

But Cesar found herself looking at the backs of four runners for more than two and a half laps and had to summon all the strength from her 17-year-old legs in the last 150 meters to fulfill expectations after a string of successes the past two years.

Selemon was unstoppable for the gold she won in two minutes and 4.43 seconds with Cesar crossing the finish in 2:09.34, some three seconds off her personal best.

“I was kind of waiting for the end to just turn it on and go,” said Cesar, whose dad Ben cheered from the stands alongside members of the Philippine delegation and the country’s other bet in athletics, Pi Durden Forward Wangkay, who ran the men’s 200 Tuesday.

“I just told myself that when I start running, no one can catch me, and I can catch whoever I set my eyes on,” said the gold medal winner in the Bangkok 2025 Southeast Asian Games who holds the national record in the event she set only last June in China. “So, I just trusted in myself.”

Morroco’s Khadija Elmostaqim appeared to podium over Cesar but couldn’t keep up and settled for bronze in 2:10.05.

“Congratulations Naomi, ‘Mabuhay ka!” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino, who monitored the race in the wee hours Tuesday in Manila.

“We are proud of you for bringing home the silver.”

Cesar’s silver was only the country’s second credited medal in the YOG after Christian Tio’s in men’s IKA twin tip racing in kiteboarding in Buenos Aires in 2018 as Luis Gabriel Moreno’s mixed national Olympic Committee gold medal with China’s Li Jiaman in archery also in 2018 didn’t officially count in the tally.

“Big congratulations Naomi,” Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick Gregorio said from Manila.

“Well done Team Philippines!”

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Terry Capistrano also hailed Naomi for her accomplishment.

“Congratulations Naomi and thank you for making the Filipinos proud and happy,” he said.

The silver didn’t sink in early on Cesar.

“It still doesn’t feel real,” she said. “When I crossed the line, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just medaled at the Youth Olympics!”

“It’s just so unreal, but I’m so happy and so proud of myself,” added Cesar, who got words of encouragement and inspiration from marathon legend and IOC Global Ambassador Eliud Kipchoge hours before her run.

“He told me to go out there, compete, have fun, be proud of myself and remember how far I’ve come,” she said.