A TOTAL of 22 Filipino athletes will compete at the Paris Olympics, which comes off the wraps on July 26.
In this seven-part series, The Manila Times broke down that number (22) into groups and explained the pathways these athletes took to make it to Paris.
The first part belongs to athletes who are the lone representatives of their respective national teams — Joanie Delgaco in rowing, Samantha Catantan in fencing and Kiyomi Watanabe in judo.
Delgaco made history as the first Filipino female rower to make it to the Olympics after placing fourth in the women’s single sculls final of the Asian and Oceanian Rowing Olympic Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea.
The 25-year-old clocked seven minutes and 49.39 seconds in the six-rower race championship round, where the top five finishers were rewarded with Olympic berths.
Delgaco became the fourth rower from the Philippines to have qualified for the Olympics after her coach Edgardo Maerina (1988 Seoul Games), Benjamin Tolentino Jr. (2000 Sydney Games) and Cris Nievarez (2021 Tokyo Games).
Meanwhile, Catantan, less than 11 months after suffering an ACL tear at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, recovered and earned her Olympic slot by ruling the women’s foil event of the Asian & Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament in Dubai in April.
In the process, the 22-year-old Catantan became the first Filipino to reach the Olympic fencing stage since now Philippine Sports Commission commissioner Walter Torres did in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Watanabe, on the other hand, is making her second Olympic appearance after qualifying at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
The 27-year-old Filipino Japanese made the Paris Games through the Asian continental allocation practically given to a National Olympic Committee’s athlete with the highest ranking points.
Watanabe will compete in the women’s 63 kg class.
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