Joanie Delgaco may have to recreate her repechage magic anew– this time against the best and brightest rowers of the world if she hopes to advance further in the single sculls race of the Paris Olympics.
Joanie Delgaco made history even before Paris 2024 began when she became the first Filipino rower to qualify in the Olympics.
After a shaky debut in Paris, Delgaco bounced back in the biggest way possible, toppling the repechage heat on Sunday, July 28 to clinch a quarterfinal slot.
Why not keep making history again?
Delgaco aims to further extend her already-historic campaign in the Olympic Games Paris 2024, as the 26-year-old rower returns to action in the women's single sculls later at 3:30 p.m. (PH Time).
Joanie displayed remarkable resilience and skill, powering through the repechage with a stunning first-place performance with a time of 7:55.00, beating Vietnam's Pham Thi Hue (8:00.97). Both advance to the quarterfinals.
The Iriga, Camarines Sur native bared that she had to tweak her tactical approach coming into the match, putting more of her energy and effort from the 1,500-meter mark onwards.
It was a lesson she learned from the heats. In her first race, Delgaco was strong and was running third from the start until the 1,000-meter mark. However, she faltered at the second half, missing the early qualification to the quarterfinals.
“Yung strategy ko po kahapon, binago ko po ngayon. Pinaganda ko po yung strategy ko ngayon kasi mas kailangan ko po. Binago ko po siya, nag reserve po ako ng [energy] for the second thousand hanggang maka finish line po,” Delgaco spoke.
It paid off.
Philippine Rowing Association president Patrick Gregorio, in a statement, just reminded Delgaco before the race to just “go all-out and enjoy the quarterfinals” while also noting she wanted to see the Filipina rower in the same stage four years from now in Los Angeles, California, USA.
“Hindi titigil ang pagsagwan ni Joanie para sa bayan.” Gregorio added.
But in probably the biggest race of her life, Delgaco is facing no less than the reigning Olympic champion Emma Twigg and some of the best the sport could offer.
Twigg, who is representing New Zealand, is out to retain the title for second straight Olympic editions after conquering Tokyo 2020 with a Olympic record of seven minutes and 13.97 seconds.
The 37-year-old Twigg had the fastest time of seven minutes and 34.97 seconds in her heat.
There's also the under-23 world champion in Katharina Janzen of Switzerland and other heavy contenders in Virginia Diaz of Spain, Diana Dymchenko of Azerbaijan, and Jovana Arsic of Serbia.
Diaz and Janzen finished their races in seven minutes and 37.30 seconds and seven minutes and 41.15 seconds, respectively. Arsic, meanwhile, clocked seven minutes and 48.29 ticks.
For the quarterfinals, only the top three in each of the four heats will advance to the semifinals A/B. The rest will be relegated to semifinals C/D.
But there’s no fear for Joanie, and who knows, maybe the gods of rowing may smile upon her again today.
Story Summary:
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Joanie Delgaco made history as the first Filipino rower to qualify for the Olympics, and after a shaky debut, she clinched a quarterfinal slot by winning her repechage with a time of 7:55.00.
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Adjusting her strategy, Delgaco focused on conserving energy for the second half of the race, a lesson learned from her initial heat, which helped her secure first place and advance alongside Vietnam's Pham Thi Hue.
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Facing tough competition, including reigning Olympic champion Emma Twigg, Delgaco aims to continue her historic campaign in the women's single sculls quarterfinals, with the top three in each heat advancing to the semifinals A/B.
[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.]