Paris Olympians, Paralympians to get share of spotlight at PSA Awards

MANILA, Philippines -- A touch of nostalgia shrouds the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Awards Night as Filipinos who represented flag and country in the Olympics will be given tribute in one of the special highlights of the January 27 presentation at the grand ballroom of the Manila Hotel.

Members of the Philippine contingent to both the Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games are going to be recognized for flying the country’s red, white and blue proud and mighty during the 2024 edition of the Olympiad in the French capital.

And in observance of the country’s century of participation in the quadrennial showcase, beloved members of Philippine teams to the Olympics in the last 60 years will join their Paris counterparts in what is the biggest Awards Night ever by the nation’s oldest media organization headed by its president Nelson Beltran, sports editor of The STAR.

Previous Olympic teams will have their respective representatives per batch as distinguished by the Philippine Olympians Association.

First ever Filipino double gold medal winner Carlos Yulo and fellow Paris Olympic medalists Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas are going to be honored with the highest awards in the formal affair co-presented by ArenaPlus, Cignal, and MediaQuest.

Yulo of course, is the recipient of the Athlete of the Year, while major awards will be handed out to both Petecio and Villegas during the star-studded gathering supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, PLDT/Smart, Senator Bong Go, and Januarius Holdings, with backing from the PBA, PVL, 1-Pacman Party List, Rain or Shine, Akari and AcroCity.

The country’s breakthrough gold medalist in the Olympics, Hidilyn Diaz, is to be recognized separately as she is set to be enshrined in the PSA Hall of Fame.

Comprising the Philippine team to the Paris Games are EJ Obiena, Lauren Hoffman, John Cabang Tolentino, Carlo Paalam, Eumir Marcial, Hergie Bacyadan, Samantha Catantan, Bianca Pagdanganan, Dottie Ardina, Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, Levi Jung-Ruivivar, Kiyomi Watanabe, Joanie Delgaco, Kayla Sanchez, Jarold Hatch, Elreen Ando, John Ceniza and Vanessa Sarno.

On the other hand, the compact six-man Paralympic team is composed of Agustina Bantiloc, Jerrold Mangliwan, Cendy Asusano, Ernie Gawilan, Angel Otom and Allain Ganapin.

Meanwhile, previous Olympic teams and their representatives include Mildred Canete (1964 Tokyo), Ernesto Bren and Jaime Mariano (1968 Mexico), Freddie Webb, Marte Samson, Ricardo Fortaleza, and Gerardo Rosario (1972 Munich), Reynaldo Fortaleza (1976 Montreal), Christine Jacob Sandejas (1984 Los Angeles), Akiko Thomson Guevara, Stephen Fernandez, Edgardo Maerina, Benjamin McMurray, Gregorio Colonia, and Manuel Monsour del Rosario (1988 Seoul), Roel Velasco, Isidro Vicera, Juan Miguel Torres, Jaime Recio, Ed Lasquete, Walter Torres and Beatriz Lucero (1992 Barcelona).

Representing the 1996 Atlanta batch are Mansueto Velasco Jr., Elias Recaido and Amparo Lim; Jenny Guerrero, Roberto Cruz, Donald Geisler, Jasmin Strachan Simpao, Benjamin Tolentino and Marie Antoinette Leviste for 2000 Sydney; Raphael Matthew Chua and Jethro Dionisio for 2004 Athens; and Eric Ang and Marestella Torres Sunang for 2008 Beijing.

The rest are Jessie Lacuna, Rene Herrera, Jasmine Alkhaldi (2012 London); Kirstie Elaine Alora, Mary Joy Tabal, Charly Suarez and Rogen Ladon (2016 Rio De Janeiro); and Cris Marasigan Niervaez and Kurt Barbosa (2020 Tokyo).