Philippines’ Joanie Delgaco competes within the girls’s single sculls repechages rowing competitors at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Centre in Vaires-sur-Marne throughout the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games on July 28, 2024. (Picture by Bertrand GUAY / AFP)
Sam Catantan has lengthy contemplated on what lies forward even earlier than she stepped on the piste within the 2024 Paris Olympics.
So regardless of her exit from the ladies’s particular person foil event contained in the magnificent Grand Palais in Paris on Sunday, Catantan has already designed an even bigger and demanding plan for her subsequent profession transfer.
“To be there (2028 Los Angeles Olympics), I’ve to compete in as many worldwide tournaments as I can to achieve the required factors,’’ mentioned Catantan.
The primary Filipino girl fencer to symbolize the nation after 32 years upstaged Brazil’s Mariana Pistoia of their opening match, 15-13, to progress to the spherical of 32 versus four-time Olympian and top-ranked Arianna Errigo of Italy.
Rower Joanie Delgaco, in the meantime, made PH historical past after getting into the quarterfinals of the ladies’s singles sculls by way of the backdoor.
By prevailing within the repechage 1, Delgaco is now among the many high 24 on this planet. She clocked seven minutes and 55 seconds after the two,000-meter race at Nationwide Olympic Nautical Stadium in France, clearly beating 4 different opponents on the line.
Vietnamese Pham Thi Hue positioned second in 8:00.97 to hitch Delgaco within the quarters on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. (Manila time).The primary Filipino girl within the rowing occasion of the Video games, Delgaco pulled off a wire-to-wire victory within the repechage simply 24 hours after a missed alternative within the heats.
Regardless of Catantan bowing out, it nonetheless was weekend for the PH marketing campaign in Paris after gymnastics ace Carlos Yulo, who made the finals of his signature occasions the ground train and vault, plus the boys’s all-around on Saturday.
Visibly undersized, Catantan made Errigo work all through their conflict, rising from a four-point deficit twice, earlier than the Italian concluded their faceoff with a pair of fast stabs for a slim 15-12 win to advance to the desk of 16.
Rigorous route
Whatever the final result, lunging her sword on the grandest stage in sports activities is definitely an accomplishment for Catantan, who needed to undergo the rigorous Olympic Qualification Match (OQT) for Asia.
“I might slightly make it (to Los Angeles) by compiling rating factors than undergo the identical course of once more,’’ mentioned Catantan.The 22-year-old from Frisco in Quezon Metropolis and 2021 Southeast Asian Video games (SEA) gold medalist hardly had the luxurious of taking part in in varied tournaments the place factors are earned previous to the OQT.
It didn’t assist that she suffered a devastating ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) damage throughout final 12 months’s Cambodia SEA Video games within the semifinals, forcing Catantan to accept a silver medal.That left knee buckled in her assembly towards Pistoia with the Brazilian forward, 7-4, throughout the last 24 seconds of the primary spherical.However Catantan didn’t lose hope and fought level for level earlier than gaining management with a stretch lunge for a 14-13 lead earlier than ending Pistoia’s bid with one other prolific thrust.
Catantan felt one other sharp sting on the identical knee with 20 seconds remaining within the second spherical of the Errigo match.
Out for almost 10 months, Catantan missed many of the tournaments that provide Olympic qualification factors that noticed her rating plummet badly. The highest-ranked fencer from every continent routinely clinched an Olympic berth.
“That’s the trail I might like to take going to Los Angeles,’’ mentioned Catantan. INQ
