What could happen in a weekend? A lot, especially for Philippine sports.
For Carlos Yulo, he just needed a little more than 24 hours to win two Olympic gold medals — a far cry from how long it took the Philippines to bring home its first Olympic gold medal.
With his gold medal runs in the men’s floor exercise and vault finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Philippines has already matched its best Summer Games output of at least four medals guaranteed as boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas have sealed their semifinals spot in their respective weight divisions.
Petecio and Villegas’ semis appearances have assured them of at least a bronze medal in their respective events.
The four medals tied the country’s four-medal haul in the Tokyo Olympics, where Hidilyn Diaz captured the breakthrough gold medal in the women’s 55kg of the weightlifting contest while also setting an Olympic record.
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Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Men’s Vault Victory Ceremony – August 04, 2024. Gold medalist Carlos Yulo of Philippines celebrates with his medal on the podium. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
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Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Men’s Vault Victory Ceremony – August 04, 2024. Gold medalist Carlos Yulo of Philippines celebrates on the podium with his medal. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
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Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Men’s Vault Victory Ceremony – August 04, 2024. Gold medallist Carlos Edriel Yulo of Philippines celebrates on the podium. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
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Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Men’s Vault Victory Ceremony – August 04, 2024. Gold medalist Carlos Yulo of Philippines looks at his medal on the podium. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
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Paris 2024 Olympics – August 04, 2024. Gold medalist Carlos Yulo of Philippines, silver medalist Artur Davtyan of Armenia, and bronze medalist Harry Hepworth of Britain. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
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Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Men’s Vault Victory Ceremony – August 04. Gold medalist Carlos Yulo of Philippines celebrates with his medal on the podium. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
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Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Men’s Vault Victory Ceremony – August 04, 2024. Gold medalist Carlos Yulo of Philippines celebrates on the podium with his medal. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
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Paris 2024 Olympics -Gold medalist Carlos Yulo of Philippines celebrates on the podium with silver medallist Artur Davtyan of Armenia and bronze medallist Harry Hepworth of Britain. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Paris 2024 Olympics – Artistic Gymnastics – Men’s Vault Victory Ceremony – August 04, 2024. Gold medalist Carlos Yulo of the Philippines celebrates on the podium with his medal. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
Diaz’ gold led the medal count that also featured silver medals from pugilists Petecio and Carlo Paalam with the former claiming the second finish in the women’s 57 kg while the latter also finished as the runner-up in the men’s flyweight class.
However, it should not stop here as few more Filipino athletes will still try to hike the medal tally with EJ Obiena competing in the men’s pole vault finals on early Tuesday.
Hurdlers John Cabang Tolentino and Lauren Hoffman have also been relegated to repechage.
Weightlifters John Ceniza, Vanessa Sarno, Elreen Ando have also yet to see action, along with golfers Dottie Ardina and Bianca Pagdanganan.
