A large group of 22 Filipino athletes in the 2024 Paris Olympics is gearing up to match or even surpass the country’s previous four-medal haul from the Tokyo Games. Of these, 15 are competing in the Women’s categories.
The country’s elite roster in Women’s sports is a diverse mix of experience levels, ages, genders, and nationalities. Their varied experiences and aspirations have found an ideal stage at the Olympics, where they now aim to make a mark for the history books.
From returning and debuting Olympians to late bloomers and protégés, as well as trans men and both pure and mixed Filipinos, here are the Filipino athletes competing in Women’s Olympic sports and their Paris berths.
Artistic Gymnastics
Three women are ending the drought of Filipino female gymnasts in Olympic competitions. Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, and Levi Jung-Ruivivar are Filipino-American athletes set to be the biggest gymnastics entry the country has sent.
Each of them qualified for the Paris Games over the past year. Although they are competing as individuals rather than as a national team, they have long known each other and experienced the sport together. All three reached the highest tier of gymnastics in the United States. Still, it was not enough to seal a competitive spot on a U.S. team for world championships or the Olympics—until the Philippine federation reached out to Finnegan and Malabuyo.
Finnegan competed at the Southeast Asian Games, while Malabuyo competed at the Asian Championships. The Olympic qualification path was longer for Malabuyo compared to Finnegan, with the latter clinching a berth in the all-around during the qualifying round. Malabuyo, on the other hand, took the route of NCAA competitions followed by the World Cup series.
It took a few more months before Malabuyo secured her spot, as Jung-Ruivivar had beaten her to qualify for the Olympics through the World Cup series. By May, Malabuyo earned her Olympian spot through the Asian Championships. Together, this trio has made history by ending a 60-year hiatus in women’s Olympic gymnastics for the Philippines.
Boxing
For the last 20 editions, the country has had a boxing representative in every edition except for the 1924 and 1928 Games. In this 2024 Paris Games, the Philippine boxing team has set their eyes on finally coming home with a gold medal. Among the boxers who have punched their tickets to Paris for the women’s category are seasoned Olympian Nesthy Petecio and debutantes Hergie Bacyadan and Aira Villegas.
The World Qualification Tournament in 2023 was the path to the Paris Games for Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas, competing in the 57-kg and 50-kg categories, respectively. Meanwhile, the last to join the team was Bacyadan, who competed in the World Boxing Olympic Qualification and outlasted Venezuela’s bet in the 75-kg quarterfinals.
Weightlifting
For the first time in four decades, the Philippines is sending a three-member entry to the Olympic weightlifting category, with two out of the three being women.
Elreen Ando qualified for the Paris Games at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup in Thailand. Not only did Ando clear 100 kg in the snatch and 128 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 228 kg, but she also beat her personal best record of 222 kg set at the World Weightlifting Championships in 2023. Her victory resulted in Hidilyn Diaz, the first athlete to win a gold medal for the Philippines at the Tokyo Olympics, missing out on her fifth Olympic appearance. Nonetheless, Diaz continues to support the Philippine weightlifting team.
Joining Ando is Vanessa Sarno, who, at age 20, also broke her own national record in the same tournament. During the IWF World Cup in Thailand, Sarno surpassed her existing national record-setting snatch of 108 kg with 110 kg. Moreover, she cleared 135 kg in the clean and jerk, giving her a total of 245 kg to finish fifth and earn her Olympic weightlifting berth.
Athletics
The Olympian track and field events also welcome two new Filipino delegates as John Cabang Tolentino and Lauren Hoffman join world number two pole vaulter EJ Obiena at the Paris Games.
To qualify for the Olympics, Hoffman needed to either hit the Olympic standard time in the women’s 400m hurdles of 54.85 seconds or place within the Top 40 in the Olympic rankings. A hurdler who has long been on a quest to represent the country since her collegiate years at Duke University, Hoffman competed extensively until she qualified.
She started competing locally in the 2023 Philippine Athletics Championships, where she went on to place fifth in the Asian Games with a time of 57.21 seconds. Not long after, she broke the national record in the 400m hurdles twice, with 56.39 seconds in the US and 54.85 seconds in the Athletics Championships in Pasig. With these efforts combined, Hoffman earned enough points to sit at number 30 in the rankings, booking her ticket to the Paris Olympics.
Rowing
Since the 1988 Olympics, the Philippines has had only three rowers. Joanie Delgaco extends this legacy with an added layer of pride, as she becomes the first female rower to represent the nation.
Delgaco’s attempts at an Olympic stint started as a volleyball athlete, even competing in the Palarong Pambansa. She switched to rowing upon realizing that volleyball did not seem to be the sport for her. The beginning may have been in choppy waters, but she eventually found her path to qualification.
In 2019, Delgaco won a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines for lightweight double sculls. Fast forward four years to the 2023 Asian Rowing Beach Sprint Championships in mixed rowing, where she struck gold again. Her journey has been nothing short of inspiring, showcasing the grit it takes to acquire a berth.
Fencing
After a long 32-year absence from the Olympics in fencing, the country is now represented by young fencing star Samantha Catantan. Samantha has been part of the Philippine national fencing team since she was 15, but this did not guarantee her an easy qualification path.
She qualified in the Asia-Oceania Zonal Olympic Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates while overcoming a late-game injury. Before scoring the final point to win, she was trailing three points behind Kazakhstan’s Sofiya Aktayeva with a score of 9-12. She bounced back by winning four of the next five points, leveling the score to a 14-14 tie, but risked injuring her left knee during a lunge. Still, she did not let it get the best of her and thrusted her way to an Olympic debut.
Swimming
Kayla Sanchez is a Filipino-born who has brought home a pair of Olympic medals in swimming for Canada. For the Paris Games, Sanchez decided to take her talents to her native country.
The Sanchez family has known Canada as home since 2003, so switching federations after the 2022 World Championships was not an easy decision for the young athlete. But when it boiled down to sparking inspiration for Philippine swimming, she knew making that choice would be for her fervor.
Judo
Repping the Philippines as both the country’s female flag bearer and first female Olympic judoka is Filipino-Japanese Kiyomi Watanabe.
Prior to her debut on the Olympic floor, Watanabe is a four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and an Asian Games silver medalist. She clinched her return to the Olympics by ranking 92nd in the world in the women’s -63kg category. Such a feat allowed her to secure one of the two continental quotas reserved for Asia, making her Olympic comeback a reality.
Golf
Two Filipino golf athletes are making waves in Olympic history, each determined to swing a victory for their country.
Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina have both secured their berths in the Paris Games by staying within the top 60 of the Olympic women’s golf rankings. The 26-year-old Pagdanganan, who won a bronze medal at the Asian Games, was ranked 35th, while Ardina finished 55th in the International Golf Federation’s rankings. Their strong performances have earned them a place among the 60 golfers competing in the French capital. For Pagdanganan, this will be her second chance at the Olympics as she aims to improve on her 43rd-place finish from Tokyo 2020.
These Filipino athletes playing in the women’s categories at the Olympics are not simply representing the country’s name; they represent a nation’s resilience, hard work, and fierce spirit. As they continue to make breakthroughs and achieve remarkable feats, they inspire future generations of athletes and foster a sense of pride across the country. This roster leaves the promise of a thrilling future for the next stage of competitors in women’s categories.
