Philippine team gymnast Levi Yung-Ruybivar training for the gymnastics competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. – Levi Yung-Ruybivar’s Instagram
PARIS — One of the things that keeps Levi Jung Ruibevar in his Filipino heritage is his love of gymnastics.
After all, her father, Anthony, is a member of the U.S. junior gymnastics team, representing the Philippine side under John Ruivivar.
“Growing up, Filipino culture was a very important part of my life and I am so grateful to have been able to connect with it through my love of gymnastics,” the Hawaii-born teenager wrote on her social media accounts.
Now, she will be a huge boon to the Philippines.
In the French capital, known as the City of Light, Yun-Ruybiver will be one of three female gymnasts attempting to break out of the enormous shadow of two-time world champion Carlos Yulo in the women’s individual all-around competition at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
At 18, Yung Ruivivard is the youngest of the trio, which also includes Aria Finnegan and Emma Malabuyo.
“I have never fought so hard in my life,” Malabuyo wrote on his social media accounts, adding that while the prospect of competing against the world’s best under the brightest sports lights is daunting, “I’m more scared of not trying at all.”
The success of the three gymnasts will mark a day when the Philippine team will look to its female athletes to carry its Summer Olympics hopes.
The Philippines is one of the countries that has contributed to more equal representation of men and women at the Paris Games. The Philippine team has 15 female and seven male athletes.
The biggest battle
Yun Ruivivar won a silver medal on the uneven bars at the World Cup series held in Doha, Qatar, in April last year, giving her confidence boost heading into the Paris Games.
“It gives me great pride, gratitude and joy to be able to compete and represent the Philippines,” she said.
Malabuyo had to work harder to qualify for the Olympics, but now she is ready for perhaps the biggest fight of her illustrious career at such a young age.
She finally earned her ticket to Paris by placing third in the individual all-around at the Asian Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The 21-year-old Finnegan has been a member of the Philippine national team since the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games two years ago.
Finnegan became the first Filipina female gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since 1964. Two more Filipina women will qualify Sunday, this time in fencing, although one will be representing a different federation.
Former eight-time national champion Maxine Esteban, who transferred to the Ivory Coast Federation after being unceremoniously dropped from the Philippine national team, will compete in the women’s foil finals.
Esteban, an Ivorian of Filipino descent, will face local favourite Pauline Ranvier, a silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, who is seeded 13th in the round of 32.
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Meanwhile, Samantha Catantan will face wildcard Mariana Pistoia of Brazil, ranked 240th in the world. Catantan is considered the favorite in this matchup and if she maintains her form she will advance to the main draw against Ariana Errigo, ranked 2nd in the world. —Report from Olympic Dispatch
Check out Inquirer Sports’ special coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
