Boxers Nesty Petecio and Carlo Parham will serve as flag bearers for the Philippine team at the Paris Olympics in 2024. —PDI file photo
When the Philippine delegation convenes for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Nesty Petecio and Carlo Parham will continue what seems to be a recurring theme.
Palam and Petecio will be tasked with raising the Philippine flag at the official start of the Summer Olympics, joining a growing list of boxers who have performed the task in the country’s 100th year of Olympic participation.
The pair, silver medallists at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed due to the pandemic three years ago, are just the sixth and seventh sluggers in Olympic history to shoulder the responsibility for their country.
read: Philippine Team for the Paris 2024 Olympics: Meet the Players
Manfredo Alipala was the first boxer to achieve this feat at the 1964 Tokyo Games, followed by Arlo Chaves 28 years later in Barcelona.
Previous winners were Reinaldo Garrido at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Romeo Brin at the 2004 Athens Olympics and Eumier Marcial three years ago.
Manny Pacquiao leads the Philippine Olympic delegation during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the National Stadium (also known as the Bird’s Nest) on August 8, 2008. AFP PHOTO / OLIVIER MORIN
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Manny Pacquiao was given the unusual task of carrying the national flag at the opening ceremony, despite not representing the Philippines.
The role was originally intended to be played by Miguel Molina, a swimmer who won four gold medals at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
However, President Arroyo then asked the Philippine Olympic Committee to reconsider, and the committee ultimately secured a special arrangement for Pacquiao to compete in place of Molina, who was later chosen as the flag bearer for the closing ceremony.
Read: Paris Olympics 2024 Opening Ceremony: Where and how to watch
Three swimmers have carried the flag in the past: Tuding Losada (Melbourne, 1956), Gerard Rosario (Montreal, 1976) and Eric Buhain (Seoul, 1988).
Swimming will have four flag bearers, including the Philippines’ first Olympian, sprinter David Nepomuceno, who was the only athlete to represent the Philippines at the inaugural Summer Olympics in Paris a century ago.
Archival photographs in circulation show Nepomuceno, who later competed in the 100 and 200 meters, holding both the Philippine and American flags, as the Philippines was still under American rule.
The Last Track Star
The Philippine delegation takes part in the Parade of Nations during the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney on September 15, 2000. AFP PHOTO/Eric FEFERBERG (Photo by Eric Feferberg / AFP)
Another sprinter, Anselmo Gonzaga, carried the flag in a quartet at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, and then high jumper Simeon Toribio carried the flag at the 1936 Berlin Games.
The last athlete to serve as flag bearer in a track and field event was fellow sprinter Isidro del Prado at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
Basketball had two flag bearers, Francisco Bestil in London 1948 and Jimmy Mariano in Berlin 1972. This was the last time the Philippines competed in the country’s most beloved sport.
Taekwondo’s jin, Donald Geisler, was the flag bearer at the 2000 Sydney Games, the year the martial art debuted as a medal sport.
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz made history as the Philippines’ first female flag bearer at the 2012 London Olympics, nine years before winning the country’s first gold medal. Then, the late Ian Larriva became the Philippines’ first Olympic table tennis player to win a gold medal in the opening match of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Judoka Kiyomi Watanabe will act as flag bearer alongside Martial at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, which also marked the first time that a country or team could choose one male and one female flag bearer.
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
The subscription was successfully completed.
Palam and Petecio will be joined on Friday evening local time (early Saturday morning Philippine time) by notable flag-bearers from other countries, including LeBron James of the United States and Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece, as well as other athletes looking to create their own Olympic moments in the City of Love.
Check out Inquirer Sports’ special coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
