KRISTEL SATUMBAGA

The country’s historic campaign at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was not a one-hit wonder.

The country’s performance in 2022 proved that.

That’s because Filipino athletes continued to leave marks in the elite stage to show they are not done conquering the world.

As expected, Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz bannered the success of Filipino athletes after clinching three gold medals at the 2022 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Colombia this December.

A champion to almost all high-end tournaments such as the Southeast Asian Games, the Asian Games, the Asian Championships and the Olympics, Diaz finally captured the elusive world title to complete her golden romp in the elite level.

Her success was somehow an icing on the cake as fellow elite athletes such as gymnast Carlos Yulo, pole vaulter EJ Obiena and junior tennis sensation Alex Eala to name a few, also sustained their impressive showing in their respective fields.

Yulo, 22, stamped his class anew at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, England with his silver-medal triumph in vault and bronze in parallel bars.

The 27-year-old pole vaulter Obiena, for his part, became the first Filipino athlete to win a medal at the prestigious World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon with a bronze medal while also establishing a new Philippine and Asian record of 5.94 meters.

Eala, meanwhile, made her mark with a historic victory at the US Open Girls Singles – the first Filipino to do so.

Other notable triumphs were equally momentous as well, like karateka Junna Tsukii’s golden effort at the World Games, the national women’s football team’s historic title run at the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Championship,

Carlo Paalam’s golden feat at the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships in Jordan, world championship titles for jiu jitsu athletes Meggie Ochoa and Kimberly Anne Custodio, and the World Teams 10-ball Championship crown for cue masters Carlo Biado, Johann Chua and Rubilen Amit, to name a few.

Last year’s significant Tokyo Olympics campaign just showed that Filipino athletes have so much more to offer and give. With more elite tournaments lined up in 2023 leading to the 2024 Paris Olympics, expect them to deliver more.