By CARLO ANOLIN
Nesthy Petecio is just one of the Filipino boxers seeking Olympic berths for the coronavirus-hit Tokyo Games in July.
With the start of their 90-day training camp in Calamba, Laguna dubbed as “Calambubble,” Petecio couldn’t be happier to return to regular face-to-face meetings with her coaches and teammates.
“Noong sinabihan po ako ng mga coaches ko na matutuloy ‘yung bubble training, masaya po ako kasi sa wakas, makakabalik na rin sa training after [eight] months,” Petecio told Manila Bulletin in an online exchange Monday.
“Pero iniisip ko po talaga na kapag nag-start na ang training, kung ano man meron sa loob at kung ano pa, basta magfo-focus po ako sa training lang at para makahabol po ako sa darating na [O]lympic qualifier.”
The boxing pride of Davao del Sur last saw action in the Asia-Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualifiers in Amman, Jordan last March, falling short in a quarterfinal loss against Japanese Sena Irie before the COVID-19 pandemic put the sporting world at a standstill.
Prior to that, Petecio bagged the gold medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games last December 2019 and ruled the AIBA World Championships in Russia in September the same year.
The 28-year-old featherweight bet has one goal in mind and that is to ace the last qualifier in June this year, which was originally set in May 2020.
So far, boxers Eumir Felix Marcial (middleweight) and Irish Magno (flyweight), world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo, and pole vaulter EJ Obiena have made the Olympic grade.
“Focus po talaga sa training, mga 150 [percent] kung maaari po,” said Petecio.
