Boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas are heading to the 2024 Paris Olympics, joining Eumir Marcial, EJ Obiena, Carlos Yulo, and Aleah Finnegan.
Back to the Olympics!
Nesthy Petecio will be a two-time Olympian a she secured her slot in Paris 2024 via the 1st World Qualification Tournament for boxing in Busto Arsizio, Italy.
Fellow Pinay boxer Aira Villegas has also secured her Olympic debut in the same qualifiers.
Petecio, a silver medalist in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games, secured one of the two spots available in the featherweight (57kg) division after beating Esra Kahraman Yildiz of Turkey via split decision in the semifinals.
She first beat Serbia's Andela Brankovic via referee stoppage in the round of 64; beat Romania's Maria Claudia Nechita in the round of 32, as well as Germany's Nancy Canan Tas in the round of 16, and Netherland's Mau Van Der Toorn in the quarterfinals via unanimous decision.
Petecio then grabbed the majority decision, 4-1, against Yildiz.
Petecio returns to the Olympics after becoming the first Filipina boxer to win a medal--a silver at that--at the Summer Games.
Meanwhile, Aira Villegas will also be making her debut in the Olympics after getting one of the four slots in the 50kg division. She beat Bulgaria's Genadieva Zlatislava of Bulgaria via unanimous decision in the quarterfinals.
They will be joining fellow boxer Eumir Marcial, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, as well as gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan in the 2024 Olympics.