The Philippines will win multiple Olympic medals for the first time since 1932

A historic run

The Philippines isn’t exactly a juggernaut when it comes to the Olympic Games, but it’s slowly making its mark. After weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz won the country’s first gold in the 55kg women’s weightlifting competition, boxer Nesthy Petecio is assured of at least a bronze in the Women’s Featherweight division.

Petecio managed the feat when she won a unanimous decision over Columbia’s Yeni Arias Castaneda in the quarterfinals leg of the tourney in Tokyo. Petecio previously made headlines with her upset of World #1 Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese Taipei.

The Davao del Sur native will advance to the gold medal round should she defeat Italy’s Irma Testa in the semifinals this Saturday, July 31. She has a chance to surpass Onyok Velasco’s silver finish in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

This also means that the Philippines will win multiple medals in the Games for the first time since the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. The country went home with 3 bronze medalists: Simeon Toribio for the Men’s High Jump, Jose Villanueva for Boxing, and Teofilo Ydelfonso for Swimming.

Born in Ilocos Norte, Ydelfonso was notable for also winning a bronze in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, making him the first Filipino athlete to win an Olympic medal in any sport and the only one to win back-to-back.

He joined in the fight against Japan in World War II, even surviving the Bataan Death March, but later died at a concentration camp in Capas.

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Source: we the pvblic