There was a mini-debate sparked on Twitter (now known as X) during the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 .
Should sports writers use the verb "settle" when boxer Nesthy Petecio clinched a silver medal for the Philippines?
It was a historic one, the first-ever for a Filipina pugilist at the Olympic Games.
Some said that "settling" for silver denoted negativity and that it invalidated the athlete's hard work of getting to the finals or to the medal round in the first place.
Sports writers though argued they're not out to romanticize a loss, but to report the narrative of how the medal round went.
And in the case of boxing, Petecio went all the way to the gold medal round. They were there to COMPETE for the gold, the silver was already assured for both fighters.
The loser just had to, well, settle for the silver.
No athlete in the right mind, upon qualifying for the medal round, would gun for the bronze or the silver. They're aiming for the gold. The bronze and the silver are consolation.
In the Olympic Games, the Philippine received five silver consolations. There was one time though that a Filipina silver medalist redeemed herself.
Olympic Games Tokyo 1964 - Anthony Villanueva
Boxing | Men's featherweight
Anthony Villanueva headed to the Olympic Games in Tokyo with a lot of history.
His father Jose Villanueva won bronze at the 1932 edition of the Olympics in Los Angeles.
The younger Villanueva started the Round of 32 against Giovanni Girgenti of Italy. The Filipino won by a hair, a 3-2 split decision.
The Filipino boxer then advanced to the Round of 16, against Ben Hassan of Tunisia. Villanueva had a relatively better time at it, picking up the majority decision, 4-1.
There was no such requirement in the quarterfinals, as Villanueva won via referee stoppage in the first round against Piotr Gutman of Poland. The record showed the match was stopped at the 2:41 mark.
Riding the momentum, the Filipino boxer picked up a 4-1 decision against Charles Brown of the United States of America in the semifinals.
Villanueva was assured of at least a silver.
The finals bout against Stanislav Stepashkin of the Soviet Union was a close one. Two scored it for the Filipino, 59-58 and 59-59. However, three judges were in favor of Stepashkin, 60-58, 60-59, 60-58.
A photo in the official records showed Villanueva looking down, while Stepashkin raised his hands in victory.
Photo: The Games of the XVIII Olympiad Tokyo 1964
It was a sweet prize still, as Jose and Anthony Villanueva became the first father and son duo to win Olympic medals for Team Philippines.
Olympic Games Atlanta 1996 - Onyok Velasco
Boxing | Men's light flyweight
It took 32 years before the Philippines was within striking distance of the gold medal again.
It was in boxing still, as Mansueto Velasco took up the gloves. He was the younger brother of Roel Velasco, a bronze medalist at Barcelona 1992--just the previous Olympic Games.
Onyok was also riding a high, having won the silver medal at the Asian Championship.
The Round of 32 for the light flyweight category was a breeze for Onyok, winning via referee stoppage against Chih-Hsiu Tsai of Chinese Taipei. It was the first round at the 2:27 mark.
Velasco next took on Yosvani Aguilera of Cuba in the Round of 16, handily picking up the decision via points, 14-5.
It was the same for the quarterfinals against Hamid Berhili of Morocco, 20-10.
The semifinals was against Rafael Lozano of Spain, a 1996 European Championship bronze medalist. Velasco won that too, 22-10.
The gold medal match was the toughest for Onyok, going up against 1995 World Championship gold medalist Daniel Petrov of Bulgaria.
The European picked up the victory, 19-6, much to the dismay of the Philippine corner.
It marked the end of a 32-year silver medal drought for the Philippines at the Olympic Games.
Still no gold.
Olympic Games Rio 2016 - Hidilyn Diaz
Weightlifting | Women's 53kg
It took 20 years before Filipinos could get excited again, and they found a new sport to rally for--weightlifting.
That was Hidilyn Diaz.
There was no Olympic pedigree for her. In fact, she would be haunted by a bottom finish in Beijing 2008 and a DNF (did not finish) mark in London 2012.
Her start in snatch was, well, jerky. She made 88 in her second attempt and failed to lift 91. Diaz was tied for fifth heading to the clean & jerk category.
Meanwhile, her competitors were pretty impressive in snatch. Yoon Jin-Hee of South Korea made 90. Hsu Shu-Ching of Chinese Taipei steadily lifted her way from 92 to 100. Li Yajun of China even lifted a new Olympic record of 101kg.
But the thing is, Diaz fared better in clean & jerk.
Yoon cleared 111kg on her final attempt. It was Diaz's first, and she got the green light.
The Filipina then went on to 112kg for her second attempt.
Hsu did that as well for her first.
Diaz then tried 117kg, but could not make it. Her 200kg total was just enough to beat Yoon's 119kg.
It was going to be hard to chase Hsu and Li at that point anyway.
The Chinese tried her first lift at 123kg but failed to do so. She went up to 126kg and failed again, and again.
Li was wiped out at the clean & jerk program.
Hsu at this point was in the lead with a total of 212 kg. She won gold.
Diaz was suddenly propelled to second place with the silver.
She was all too happy to settle for the unexpected silver.
It was the first-ever silver medal for a Filipina at the Olympic Games, the first-ever medal for a Philippine weightlifter, and the first-ever medal for a non-boxing event in 1936.
It was history still.
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Nesthy Petecio
Boxing | Women's featherweight
Tokyo 2020 was a historic year for Team Philippines. This was the year Diaz redeemed herself to win the country's first-ever gold medal at the Olympic Games.
It was also the year Petecio won the first silver medal by a Filipina boxer in the Olympics.
She picked up a unanimous decision against Marcelat Matshu of the Republic of Congo in the Round of 32.
Petecio then faced Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese Taipei, a gold medalist at the 2018 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships. The Filipina won via a 3-2 split decision.
Her quarterfinals opponent was even tougher, Yeni Arias Castañeda of Colombia--a bronze medalist in the 2019 Pan American Games. Petecio got the unanimous decision though.
Then it was Irma Testa of Italy, a 2019 European Championship gold medalist, for the semifinals. The Filipina got the majority decision, 4-1.
But come the finals, Petecio faced hometown bet Sena Irie of Japan.
It was a unanimous decision for Irie, the first Japanese female boxer to win Olympic gold. She was a university student back then and retired from boxing after graduation.
Petecio cried.
She broke down as she hugged her coach Nolito "Boy" Velasco, apologizing that she got "silver lang".
She wanted to dedicate the gold to him not just for convincing her to stay in boxing, but also as redemption after his brother Onyok also settled for silver in Atlanta 1996.
Coach Boy told her she had nothing to apologize for. "Basta 'wag ka lang bumitaw," he said. They still have Paris 2024.
Petecio is now in Paris for her second Olympic Games.
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Carlo Paalam
Boxing | Men's flyweight
But there was more to come for Team Philippines and its boxing contingent.
That was Carlo Paalam.
This was his Olympic debut and he took on 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Brendan Irvine of Ireland to start. Paalam won, 4-1, in the Round of 32.
The next round was against Mohamed Flissi of Algeria, a 2013 World Championship silver medalist and a 2015 African Championship gold medalist. Paalam got the unanimous victory.
It got tougher with Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan--a Rio 2016 gold medalist. Paalam won that too.
The Filipino pugilist went on another 5-0 victory, this time against Ryomei Tanaka of Japan in the semifinals.
But his streak ended in the finals against Galal Yafai of Great Britain, a 2019 European Games bronze medalist. The European picked up the 4-1 decision for the Olympic Games gold.
So at this time, Paalam settled for silver.
Tokyo 2020, the first Olympic Games held in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, proved to be Team Philippines' most successful yet with a gold medal, two silvers, and a bronze.
Petecio and Paalam settled for silver, but it was a sweet promise for the future. Three years later and here they are in Paris 2024. Team Philippines is 22-strong now, the most since Barcelona 1992.
And they will celebrate for every achievement--whether it's being awarded a bronze, settling for silver, or securing the country's second gold. There's no invalidation here.
Story Summary:
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The Philippines has won 14 Olympic medals since 1924, including five silver medals, each representing a significant yet heartbreaking achievement for Filipino athletes.
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Notable silver medalists include Anthony Villanueva in boxing at Tokyo 1964, Onyok Velasco in boxing at Atlanta 1996, and Hidilyn Diaz in weightlifting at Rio 2016, with Diaz later winning the Philippines' first-ever gold medal at Tokyo 2020.
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Tokyo 2020 was particularly historic, with Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam winning silver in boxing, highlighting the resilience and potential of Filipino athletes as they continue to strive for Olympic gold in future games.
[Editor's note: This article was written by a member of the One Sports Digital team. The summary was generated by AI, and then checked by the staff to ensure accuracy.]