No stopping Nesthy Petecio until she wins Olympic gold
MANILA, Philippines — "Walang hinto hanggang walang ginto,"
That was the short but fearless response of Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Nesthy Petecio when asked about a stint in the 2024 Paris Olympics during the online forum of the Philippine Sportswriters Association on Tuesday.
Falling only a hairline short of winning the elusive gold medal for the Philippine boxing team in the recently concluded Games, the 29-year-old Petecio is going to try and try again.
"Hahabulin kita champ," Petecio quipped to Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, who was also in the forum.
To this, the Olympic champion weightlifter only had works of encouragement.
"Sige lang. Walang competition. We have to motivate each other," Diaz said.
Petecio was as close as one could get to the gold medal in Tokyo, but ultimately did not do enough against Japan's Sena Irie in the gold medal match.
But now, older and wiser after the loss, she hopes to come back stronger than ever in Paris and take the mint that has escaped the Philippine boxing team in three tries now.
Aside from her own gold medal match, Carlo Paalam and Onyok Velasco also had shots at the top prize but fell short in their final bouts.
If she reaches it again in Paris three years from now, Petecio doesn't plan on letting it slip away again.
Petecio, and the rest of the Philippine boxing team arrived from Tokyo on Monday where she, along with medalists Paalam and Marcial are waiting to reap the benefits of their Olympic quest in the form of incentives and rewards after their quarantine.
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