Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam named Philippines’ flag bearers for 2024 Paris Olympics

Tokyo Olympics silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam were named the Philippines’ flag-bearers for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics to be held on July 26.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino made the announcement at a POC briefing on Monday.

He said they had hoped that the Olympics would allow weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist, to be a flag-bearer despite not being a competitor in this year’s edition, but they were not able to get approval.

“Tinanong ko rin sa Paris if they will allow yung hindi ka qualified pero ikaw yung flag-bearer. Kailangan (daw) lalaro,” Tolentino said.

“So sino yung susunod na mataas, si Nesthy and Paalam kasi sila yung dalawang silver. So we’ll give it to the two silvers. Nesthy and Carlo.”

[We asked Paris if they will allow someone who isn’t qualified can be flag-bearer. But they said you have to compete… So who is the next? Nesthy and and Paalam are next because they both won silver medals. So we’ll give it to the two silvers: Nesthy and Carlo.]

Petecio, 32, became the country’s first boxing Olympic medalist since Onyok Velasco in 1996 when she clinched the silver in the women’s featherweight event in Tokyo in August of 2021. She defeated an Italian opponent in the semis to enter the gold medal match but came up short against hometown bet Sena Irie of Japan.

The 25-year-old Paalam won silver in the men’s flyweight event a few days later. He hurdled a former Olympic and world champion from Uzbekistan in the quarterfinal round and a hometown Japanese boxer in the semis before settling for silver after a split decision loss to Great Britain’s Galal Yafai in the final.

In Tokyo, the Philippine delegation was led by boxer Eumir Marcial and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe as flag-bearers.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News