After SEAG gold, Nesthy Petecio eyes another shot at Olympics: 'Walang hinto hangga't walang ginto'

PHNOM PENH — Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio shared that after her Tokyo Olympics stint, it became hard for her to find passion in boxing again.

A gallant Petecio fell to hometown bet Sena Irie of Japan during their women's featherweight final round at the Olympics back in August 2021 to settle for silver. Despite falling short of the gold mint, Petecio was still recognized as she helped the country's four-medal haul — the most by the Philippines in the prestigious quadrennial event.

Still, Petecio said it became difficult to bounce back.

"Sobrang hirap po. Actually, iniisip ko kung gusto ko pa or kung kaya ko pa. After ng Tokyo Olympics kasi nando'n na e, kumbaga narating ko na 'yung pinakatuktok ng pangarap ko, hindi man gold," Petecio shared on Sunday.

"Lagi ko na lang iniisip sa sarili ko na walang hinto hangga't walang ginto."

"Kumbaga binabalik-balikan ko 'yun, naghahanap ako ulit ng motivation ko kung saan ako huhugot ng bagong lakas. Kumbaga, nahirapan akong bumalik sa totoo lang. Pero wala e, matigas 'yung inner Nesthy e," Petecio added.

("It was so difficult. Actually, I had to think about whether I still wanted to continue or if I was still capable. After the Tokyo Olympics, I was right there, it was like I reached the top of my ambitions, even if it wasn't gold... I would just think to myself, don't stop until you win the gold... I would always go back to that, looking for motivation from where I can draw new strength. It was hard to come back, truthfully. But the inner Nesthy is tough.")

After the Olympics, Petecio saw action in the 31st SEA Games, where she could only bag the bronze medal in the lightweight division.

But she made sure to recover and bag the gold medal this time around, defeating Indonesia's Ratna Sari Devi in the women's 57kg finals.

Moving forward, Petecio hopes to get more medals, especially at the Olympics.

"Sobrang thankful ako kay God na binigay niya 'to sa akin, second time na mag-gold. Pang-six na SEA Games ko na 'to and nakadalawa na tayo so hopefully madagdagan pa," Petecio said.

"Hopefully kaya ko pa."

("I am so thankful to God that He gave this to me, my second time to win gold. This is my sixth SEA Games and we've won two so hopefully we can add more... Hopefully I can still do it.")

—JMB, GMA Integrated News