Nesthy Petecio has every reason to celebrate her bronze medal in Paris despite bowing out of the competition in the semifinals, as the two-time Olympian from Davao del Sur secured the Philippines’ fourth medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics on August 8, Thursday.
Petecio, 32, fought with zest and intelligence in the women’s 57kg boxing semifinals, but ultimately failed to figure out a taller and younger adversary in Julia Szeremeta of Poland.
The judges scored it 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 28-29, only one in favor of Petecio.
The Davaoeña pugilist not only upped the country’s medal tally to four – which matches the Philippine contingent’s performance at the 2020 Tokyo games – but has became a two-time Olympic medalist herself in two Summer Olympic stints.
Petecio came out strong in the early goings of the match as she earned ten’s on all of the five judges’ scorecards after the first round, but it wasn’t a walk in the park for the Filipina bet.
If anything, the opening salvo was a statement to the world, and Petecio, about the kind of fighter Szeremeta is, who came into the fight as a younger, relatively less experienced underdog who’s 12 years Nesthy’s junior.
Despite a favorable first round for Petecio, it was clear right off the bat that Szeremeta’s height advantage and distance management hindered the Filipina boxer from being her typically dominant self, as she encountered pragmatic difficulties reaching her taller and longer foe.
The final two rounds were crucially close, but Szeremeta’s energy and aggressiveness, coupled with effective counterpunching, proved to be the difference.
The Polish slugger utilized an unorthodox movement inside the ring, making use of her advantageous speed as she darted in, out, and side-to-side to disrupt Petecio’s rhythm.
Szeremeta and her relentless ring activity and unsettling playstyle prevailed over Petecio’s deliberate but slightly stunned gameplan, as she patiently waited to land a powerful left only to be met constantly by the Polish foe’s wild flurry of rangy counterstrikes.
Prior to her semis exit, Petecio took care of business in Paris with relative ease. She scored a unanimous win against India’s Jaismine in the Round of 32, before cruising to a 4-1 victory against home bet Amina Zidani of France in the Round of 16.
She secured at least a bronze medal and earned a semifinals ticket when she expelled Xu Zichun of China in the quarterfinals.
Petecio’s third place finish in the women’s 57kg division puts an end to the Philippine boxing contingent’s impressive showing at the Paris games, but adds another silverware to the medal haul.
History-maker gymnast Carlos Yulo already secured two golds following incredible performances in separate men’s gymnastics events: floor exercise and vault exercise.
Aira Villegas, meanwhile, won a bronze medal in the boxing women’s 50kg division. The Tacloban, Leyte-born slugger reached the semifinals round, but succumbed to a more experienced foe in Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey.
Weightlifter Vanessa Sarno, the country's youngest delegate in Paris, as well as female golfers Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina, are the last three athletes from the Philippine contingent to see action at the 2024 Olympics.
The 20-year-old Boholana lifter is competing in the women’s 71kg weightlifting event at 1:30 a.m. (PHT) on Saturday, August 10.
Pagdanganan, meanwhile, boosted her chances of getting a podium finish in the women's golf individual stroke following a strong day two performance. She is currently at sixth place entering the third of four rounds, while the Calamba, Laguna-born Dottie Ardina is at 36.
Both Pagdanganan and Ardina will figure in Round 3 of the women's individual golf later at 3 p.m., August 9.
A podium finish by any of the three remaining Filipina Olympians will allow the Philippines to surpass its four-medal haul at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
