NESTHY PETECIO and Carlo Paalam will be in the forefront as flag-bearers of a 16-member Philippine representation in the never-done-before opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be a proud and hopeful 16-strong Team Philippines in the opening ceremony,\u201d said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham \u201cBambol\u201d Tolentino from Paris who won\u2019t be joining the parade of countries and will be sitting in the Olympic Family section on a bank along the Seine River.<\/p>\n
Joining the two boxing silver medalists at Tokyo 2020 are their fellow boxers Aira Villegas and Hergie Bacyadan, hurdlers Lauren Hoffman and John Cabang Tolentino, swimmers Kayla Sanchez and Jarrod Hatch, gymnast Aleah Finnegan and fencer Samantha Catantan.<\/p>\n
Chef de Mission Juanito Victor \u201cJonvic\u201d Remulla and sports officials Michael Angelo Vargas (swimming), Marcus Manalo (boxing), Cynthia Carrion Norton (gymnastics), Patrick Gregorio (rowing) and Agapito \u201cTerry\u201d Capistrano (athletics) will also be on the boat assigned for the Philippines in the lavish ceremony that start at 7:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. in Manila).<\/p>\n
Tolentino said that boxer Eumir Felix Marcial, gymnast Carlos Yulo and rower Joanie Delgaco will open their campaign on Saturday and won\u2019t be joining the parade as well as pole vaulter Ernest John \u201cEJ\u201d Obiena, who wanted to focus more in his pre-games preps in Normandy.<\/p>\n
The three weightlifters\u2014Vanessa Sarno, John Febuar Ceniza and Erleen Ann Ando\u2014have yet to conclude their training in Metz and are due at the Olympic Village on August 6, according to Tolentino.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe schedule of our Olympian athletes have been meticulously crafted by their coaches so there won\u2019t be hitches as they approach their competition days,\u201d said Tolentino, who made the rounds of the Athletes Village after arriving in Paris on Wednesday and got to meet former multiple pro boxing champion Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin, or Triple G, who\u2019s part of the Kazakhstan boxing team.
\nCompleting the 22-athlete Team Philippines are gymnasts Emma Malabuyo and Levi Ruivivar, golfers Bianca Pagdangan and Dottie Ardina and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe.<\/p>\n
The Paris Games organizers describe the opening ceremony as \u201cbold, original and unique\u201d that for the first time in Olympic history, the opening cwill not take place in a stadium but on the Seine River.<\/p>\n
The organizers said that parade of athletes will cover 6 kms on the Seine with boats for each national delegation\u2014the boats will be equipped with cameras to allow television and online viewers to see the athletes up close.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NESTHY PETECIO and Carlo Paalam will be in the forefront as flag-bearers of a 16-member Philippine representation in the never-done-before opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on Friday. \u201cWe\u2019ll be a proud and hopeful 16-strong Team Philippines in the opening ceremony,\u201d said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham \u201cBambol\u201d Tolentino from Paris who won\u2019t be joining…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[206],"class_list":["post-1870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-paris-olympics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t