Philippines’ Olympic centennial team closes Paris Games with country’s best-ever medal haul

History was made in the French capital as the Team Philippine achieved its best-ever medal haul ever since joining the Olympic Games 100 years ago.

The country will take home from the 2024 Paris Olympics two gold medals courtesy of gymnast Carlos Yulo and one bronze medal each from Filipina boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas — a feat now etched in history books as the greatest ever output by the Philippines in the Olympics.

Yulo ruled both the men's floor exercise and vault — his signature events — to become the first male Filipino athlete to capture a gold and the first Filipino gymnast of any gender to win any medal. He also became the first Filipino Olympian to win two gold medals.

Petecio fell short of matching her silver medal output in Tokyo Olympics but nonetheless made history as she seized a bronze in the women's 57kg event to become a two-time Olympic medalist, joining an elite group with Yulo, Hidilyn Diaz and Teofilo Yldefonso.

Villegas also impressed in her first Olympic appearance, copping a bronze in the women's 50kg division.

The two-gold, two-bronze result in Paris enabled the country to eclipse the medal haul from Tokyo, which was also a historic performance in its own right.

Though both editions of the Olympic Games saw the Philippines win four medals, the Paris delegation won two golds to only one in Tokyo, giving it the edge.

Diaz famously delivered the country’s first-ever gold medal three years ago in the weightlifting competition in the Tokyo Olympics. The Philippine delegation from three years ago also tallied two silvers courtesy of Petecio and Carlo Paalam as well as one bronze from Eumir Marcial.

Before the Tokyo Games, the last time the country had taken home more than one medal was way back in 1932 in Los Angles, when the Philippine delegation landed on the podium thrice.

Yldefonso finished third in the 200m breaststroke for his second medal after also winning a bronze in the 1928 edition. Athletics Simeon Toribio also snared a bronze in the men's high jump while boxer Jose Villanueva achieved the similar feat in the men's bantamweight.

The Philippines now has a total of 18 medals, with three golds, five silvers, and 10 bronzes.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News