Affair to remember

The stars will descend from the skies when the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) honors the country’s top performers of the past year and Olympians from as far back as 1964 at the 2025 San Miguel Corp. PSA Annual Awards Night in the Grand Ballroom of the Manila Hotel tomorrow evening.

The event is particularly significant because it will celebrate 100 years of Philippine participation in the Olympics from Paris to Paris. The journey began in 1924 with swimmer David Nepomuceno and National Physical Director Dr. Regino Ylanan the only Philippine representatives. Last year marked the nation’s 23rd Olympic appearance with 22 athletes wearing the national colors.

Tracking the performance of Philippine Olympians through the years, the medal count is now 18 with three gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals from gymnastics (two golds), weightlifting (one gold, one silver), boxing (four silvers, six bronzes), athletics (two bronzes) and swimming (two bronzes). The 18 medals were garnered by 14 athletes with Carlos Yulo, Hidilyn Diaz, Nesthy Petecio and Teofilo Yldefonso accounting for two each. Boxing, weightlifting and gymnastics were the only medal contributors since 1964.

It’s fitting that the PSA’s unanimous choice as Athlete of the Year is Yulo who made history by becoming the country’s first multiple Olympic gold medalist ever. Aside from his Paris haul, Yulo also brought home four gold medals from the 2024 Asian Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Uzbekistan.

In keeping with the Olympic spirit, it’s also fitting that POC president Mayor Bambol Tolentino is the PSA’s Executive of the Year. The man with the golden touch has been at the forefront of the country’s Olympic surge in the last two stagings where three gold medals were harvested. Tolentino was recently reelected to another POC term and with one gold from Tokyo and two from Paris, the trend looks promising in Los Angeles in 2028.

Petecio and Aira Villegas, both Olympic boxers, will be given the President’s Award for bagging bronze medals in Paris and Diaz, the Hall of Fame Award for winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo and her recognition as a four-time PSA Athlete of the Year. The NSA of the Year award will go to the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines whose president Cynthia Carrion has left no stone unturned in clearing the runway for Yulo’s take-off in Paris.

The unofficial count of Philippine Olympians is 432, including 85 with multiple appearances. The record holder for most Olympic trips is shooter Martin Gison who competed in 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1964. It would’ve been six stints if only Gison represented in 1960.

Tomorrow night, more than 60 Olympians will join the festivities with Mildred Canete the athlete with the longest Olympic history in 1964 as a qualifier in the women’s 4x100 meter relay. The list includes members of the last Philippine basketball team to play in the Olympics – Freddie Webb, Jimmy Mariano and Marte Samson who competed in 1972. No doubt, the 2025 San Miguel Corp. PSA Annual Awards Night will be an affair to remember.