The Philippines competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the nation's official debut in 1924, Filipino athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the nation's partial support for the US-led boycott.
The Philippine Olympic Committee fielded a team of 19 athletes, nine men and ten women, to compete in eleven different sports at the Games. The Philippines marked its Olympic debut in skateboarding (new to the 2020 Games), as well as its return to gymnastics and rowing.
The Philippines left Tokyo with its best Olympic performance ever, bringing home four medals (a record later surpassed in Paris 2024). This surpassed the three medals the country won at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The first-ever gold medal for the Philippines was won by weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz. The country's other medals, all in boxing, were a silver courtesy of Nesthy Petecio, a silver medal by Carlo Paalam, and a bronze medal by Eumir Marcial.
Medalists
Medal Name Sport Event Date Hidilyn Diaz Weightlifting Women's 55 kg Nesthy Petecio Boxing Women's featherweight Carlo Paalam Men's flyweight Eumir Marcial Men's middleweight
Background Administration Philippine Football Federation president Mariano Araneta was appointed in August 2019 as chef de mission of the Filipino delegation to the Games by Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham Tolentino. Araneta was selected for his availability because his national sports association did not qualify a team for the Olympics. Araneta succeeded Joey Romasanta who had been appointed as chef de mission for the same edition of the Olympics by Tolentino's predecessor, Ricky Vargas.
The Philippine Sports Commission, the Philippine government's sports agency, provided for the country's participation in the Olympics.
The Philippines also sent five technical officials to the 2020 Summer Olympics: Karla Cabrera (archery), Marilee Estampador (fencing), Len Escollante (canoe), Jercyl Lerin (rowing) and Ferdinand Pascual (basketball).
Qualification The Philippines aimed to qualify around 38 athletes for the Olympics, but only 19 athletes ultimately qualified. The Philippines failed attempts to qualify athletes in archery, basketball (including 3x3), cycling, fencing, karate, surfing, and windsurfing. The country also intended to qualify athletes in canoeing, but had to withdraw its athletes from the Asian qualifiers due to a positive COVID-19 result.
Opening and closing ceremonies For the opening ceremony, it was announced on 7 July 2021 that pole vaulter EJ Obiena and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe would be the flagbearers of the Philippines. However, Obiena was dropped as one of the flagbearers, after a new protocol was introduced which required flagbearers to be in Tokyo forty-eight hours prior to the opening ceremony. Obiena was set to arrive on 23 July, the date when the opening ceremony was scheduled to be held. Boxer Eumir Marcial was announced as Obiena's replacement. In the Parade of Nations, the Philippine delegation was represented by six officials and two athletes. The officials wore ready-to-wear barong from the Filipino clothing company Kultura, topped off by a shawl made by Filipino fashion designer Rajo Laurel. The two athletes who served as flagbearers wore the tracksuits supplied by Asics. Boxer Nesthy Petecio was named as flagbearer for the closing ceremony.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
The delegation was affected by travel restrictions imposed as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filipino businessman Enrique Razon has pledged to procure COVID-19 vaccines for the Philippine delegation from Moderna. Some athletes who had training outside the Philippines were vaccinated in their host countries.
The Philippine delegation was somewhat affected by the disease, with at least two officials contracting COVID-19. No Filipino athlete tested positive for COVID-19 during the duration of the games. A sports official was unable to join the delegation after testing positive for COVID-19 when they were still in Manila. Another member of Team Philippines, a foreign coach who arrived in Tokyo was suspected to have contracted COVID-19 after routine testing yielded false positive and negative results. The coach, who at one point experienced fever, was isolated from the rest of the delegation. Rower Cris Nievarez was a close contact of a COVID-19 case which caused uncertainty whether he would be able to compete. Nievarez was able to take part in his event.
Broadcasters
Name Type RefCignal TVFree-to-air, Pay and over-the-topPLDTPay and over-the-top
Competitors In total, the Philippines qualified nineteen athletes competing in eleven sports for the 2020 Summer Olympics, making the delegation the largest since the 2000 Summer Olympics, when the country fielded 20 athletes. For the first time, there were more women (10 athletes) than men (9 athletes) competing for the country in the Olympics. The average age of the Philippines' athletes was 25 years; the oldest member being Juvic Pagunsan (43 years old) and the youngest being Yuka Saso (20 years old). All athletes except for Hidilyn Diaz (who has made four consecutive appearances since the 2008 Summer Olympics) were first time competitors in the games.
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games. SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 1 1 2Boxing 2 2 4Golf 1 2 3Gymnastics 1 0 1Judo 0 1 1Rowing 1 0 1Shooting 1 0 1Skateboarding 0 1 1Swimming 1 1 2Taekwondo 1 0 1Weightlifting 0 2 2Total 9 10 19
Athletics
Filipino athletes competed in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena, who was the first athlete of the Philippines to qualify for the Olympics in 2019, underwent training with Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov. Kristina Marie Knott, who trained under Rohsaan Griffin. Knott aimed to compete in the women's 200 m, but participated in a number of 100 m races in the run-up to the Olympics due to a dearth of 200 m competitions, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Obiena and Knott were due to move to the Athletes Village for their stay in Tokyo, but the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) decided against this, as a coach in the village had tested positive for COVID-19. PATAFA decided that the athletes should remain in a nearby hotel and hired the service of a private vehicle to transport its athletes to and from the training venue.
Obiena, who had a personal best of 5.91 meters in the men's pole vault, cleared 5.75 meters to qualify for the final on his third attempt. However, after he failed to clear 5.80 meters, he ultimately placed eleventh.
Knott finished last among five runners in her heat in the women's 200 m. Experiencing heat exhaustion, she was rushed to a nearby medical station after she finished her race. She finished thirty-seventh overall among the 41 runners in the heats.
Track & road events AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankKristina Marie KnottWomen's 200 m23.805Did not advance
Field events AthleteEventQualification FinalDistancePositionDistancePositionEJ ObienaMen's pole vault5.7510 q5.70=11
Boxing
The Philippines entered four boxers (two per gender) into the Olympic tournament. 2019 world silver medalist Eumir Marcial (men's middleweight) and 2019 Southeast Asian Games runner-up Irish Magno (women's flyweight) secured places in their respective weight divisions. Reigning world champion Nesthy Petecio (women's featherweight) and Carlo Paalam (men's flyweight) completed the nation's boxing lineup by topping the list of eligible boxers from Asia and Oceania in their respective weight divisions after the World Olympic Boxing Qualifier tournament, due to be held in Paris, France, was cancelled.
Quarantine measures imposed in the Philippines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on training, with some boxers reportedly gaining an extra of weight due a lack of exercise while stranded in their homes. Eumir Marcial prepared for the Olympics in the United States, while the three other qualified boxers were sent to a training camp in Thailand. The boxing team trained with Australian consultant coach Don Abnett. The draw which determined the Filipino boxers' opponent was held on 22 July 2021.
Three out of the four boxers ultimately won a medal. Irish Magno lost to Jutamas Jitpong in the round of 16, eliminating her from contention for a podium finish. Nesthy Petecio progressed all the way to the gold medal match, but lost to Japanese boxer Sena Irie, winning silver instead. Petecio became the first female Olympic medalist in boxing for the Philippines. Carlo Paalam and Eumir Marcial won silver and bronze, respectively.
AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankCarlo PaalamMen's flyweightW 4–1W 5–0W 4–0W 5–0L 1–4Eumir MarcialMen's middleweightW W L 2–3Did not advanceIrish MagnoWomen's flyweightW 5–0L 0–5Did not advanceNesthy PetecioWomen's featherweightW 5–0W 3–2W 5–0W 4–1L 0–5
Golf
The Philippines entered three golfers (one male and two female) into the Olympic tournament. Juvic Pagunsan (world no. 216), Yuka Saso (world no. 8), and Bianca Pagdanganan (world no. 165) qualified directly among the top 60 eligible players for their respective events based on the IGF World Rankings.
AthleteEventRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4TotalScoreScoreScoreScoreScoreParRankJuvic Pagunsan Men's66737670285 +155Bianca Pagdanganan Women's69717174285 +1=43Yuka Saso74686765274−10=9
Gymnastics
Artistic The Philippines entered an artistic gymnast into the Olympic competition for the first time since 1968. Nineteen-year-old Carlos Yulo booked a spot in the men's individual all-around and apparatus events by topping the list of twelve gymnasts eligible for qualification at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. Yulo is the first Filipino born in the 2000s to qualify for the Summer Olympics.
Yulo, after competing at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines, went to Japan to prepare for the Olympics. However, he had an eight-month hiatus, with his next competition after the SEA Games being the All-Japan Senior Gymnastics Championships held in September 2020. He was considered a strong contender to win the country's first gold medal in the floor exercise, his signature event.
In the event, Yulo qualified only for the vault finals. In the floor exercise, Yulo failed to execute a landing in the early part of his routine. His second landing was self-described as "not good either". Yulo insisted that he was not affected by pressure or nervousness during his floor exercise performance and dismissed reports that he was nursing an injury, which he said he had sustained over three months ago. Yulo's coach Munehiro Kugiyama took responsibility for Yulo's failure to advance to the floor exercise finals.
Yulo stated that he did not expect to qualify for the vault finals, and admitted his surprise with his performance in that apparatus' qualifiers. Tempering expectations that he would medal in vault, he nevertheless pledged to improve his previous score. Yulo finished fourth in the vault finals. Yulo incurred a penalty in his first vault when he missed his footing and had a misstep narrowly costing him a podium finish.
Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalApparatusTotalRankApparatusTotalRankCarlos YuloAll-around13.56611.83314.00014.71213.46612.30079.93147did not advanceVaultcolspan=3 14.712 colspan=2 14.7126 Qcolspan=3 14.716colspan=2 14.7164
Judo