Carlos Yulo and Joanie Delgaco achieved impressive results in their respective events, securing their spots in the next rounds of the 2024 Paris Olympics .
For the debuting Delgaco, her journey to make the quarterfinals got a little more challenging than expected after placing fourth in Heat 2 of the women's singles sculls with a time of 7:56.26. The next day, she was relegated to the repechage, where only the top two rowers could book a ticket to the next round.
Indeed, Delgaco did not waste that chance and displayed remarkable resilience and skill, powering through the repechage with a stunning first-place performance of 7:55. From the get-go, the 26-year-old was in control of the race -- as she got to 500 meters, 1,000 meters, and 1,500 meters first in the five-women heat. This ensures that the first-ever Filipina rower will continue to carve out history and possibly deliver a medal for the Philippines.
Delgado will hope to carry over this triumph as she competes in the quarterfinals scheduled on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. PHT. A top-three finish for her should be enough to make it to the semifinals.
On the other hand, the decorated Yulo started his redemption tour with a dazzling performance at the Bercy Arena.
The 24-year-old gymnast placed second in the floor exercise with a score of 14.766, sixth in the vault with a mark of 14,683, and performed holistically in all events to get to the 9th spot for the all-around with a score of 83.631. It was expected from Yulo, having won multiple gold medals in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship in the floor exercise and vault in 2022 and 2023.
To clarify, for the single events, the target was to make the top eight, and be part of the overall top 24 gymnasts for the all-around event. With Yulo qualifying for the finals for three events, he has topped his 2020 Olympics campaign with one finals appearance in the vault. In essence, Yulo will have three chances to get a medal for the men's artistic gymnastics.
He will have his first shot at gold on July 31 at 11:30 p.m. PHT, with the individual all-around event. The floor exercise final will commence on August 3 at 9:30 PM PHT, while the vault final is set on August 4 at 10:24 PM PHT. Regardless of the result, Filipinos would already be proud of what Yulo has achieved. But it would be much sweeter if the flag was to be raised and the national anthem played simultaneously.
Meanwhile, fencer Samantha Catantan fell short in Table 32 of the women's individual foil against world number two and Italy's Arianna Erigo, losing 15-12.
With a come-from-behind 15-13 win versus Brazil's Mariana Pistola, the 22-year-old Catantan could not follow it up with a win - not before a decent effort to keep the game close until the end.
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