Nesthy’s rough road to Olympic gold

MANILA, Philippines — Featherweight boxer Nesthy Petecio is now in the record books as one of only four Philippine athletes to pocket two Olympic medals, joining swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso (bronze, 1928, 1932), weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz (silver, 2016, gold, 2020) and gymnast Carlos Yulo (two golds, 2024). Petecio, 32, took silver in 2020 and is assured of a bronze in Paris.

Early this morning, Petecio battled Poland’s Julia Szeremeta in the semis with the winner advancing to the gold medal match against either Chinese-Taipei’s Lin Yu Ting or Turkey’s Esra Yildiz. Szeremeta, 20, is no slouch and entered the ring with a 32-9 record, compared to Petecio’s 79-28. Before facing Petecio, she had won 18 of her last 19 bouts. Both Petecio and Szeremeta made it to the semis after winning three in a row.

Lin, 28, is the heavy favorite to strike gold in the 57kg featherweight division. She has won world championships as a bantamweight (2018) and featherweight (2022). Lin also hit paydirt at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.  Controversy erupted over eligibility when the International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified Lin after failing unclear gender tests last year. IBA claimed it used labs accredited by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) to disenfranchise Lin. But since IBA isn’t recognized by the IOC and WADA denied its involvement in testing Lin, the boxer was allowed to compete in Paris where the sport is under IOC’s supervision. Lin is no stranger to Filipina fighters, losing to Josie Gabuco in 2014, Irish Magno in 2015 and Petecio in 2021. Last year, she avenged her loss to Petecio with a 4-1 decision at the Asian Games. In Paris, Lin has steamrolled her opponents via 5-0 verdicts, thrashing Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova and Bulgaria’s Svetlana Kamenova. Her record is 43-14.

Petecio, the oldest athlete in the Philippine delegation of 22, defeated India’s Jasmine Lamboria, France’s Amina Zidani and China’s Xu Zichun on the way to the semis. Szeremeta, who dabbled in karate before turning to boxing, has made history in Paris by securing the first Polish medal in Olympic boxing since 1992. Like Petecio, she is guaranteed a bronze for advancing to the semis. This