There are now six Filipino qualifiers to the Tokyo Games after the inclusion of the two more boxers – Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio.
This was confirmed Friday by the International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force (IOC-BTF) to the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) through an email.
Other boxers in the Team Philippines are Eumir Marcial and Irish Magno, while the two others are pole vaulter EJ Obiena and gymnast Carlos Yulo.
The world’s biggest sporting show will be held this July.
Petecio and Paalam qualified by virtue of their highest standing in their respective weight categories according to the IOC-BTC
The IOC-BTF, which took over the preparations for Olympic qualifiers following the suspension of the International Boxing Association in 2019 due to governance issues, used the qualifying ratings to decide the remaining slots after scrapping the world Olympic qualifying competition in Paris set this June due to the alarming surge of COVID-19 cases in Europe.
Marcial and Magno, on the other hand, booked tickets via the Asian-Oceanian Olympic Qualifiers in Amman, Jordan March 2020.
Marcial qualified for the men’s middleweight class (75 kg), Magno in women’s flyweight (52 kg), Petecio in the featherweight (57 kg) and Paalam in the men’s flyweight (52kg).
ABAP President Ricky Vargas expressed elation over the news and rallied the Filipino people to throw their full support to the campaign of the four national boxers.
“Let us all get together and focus on the challenges ahead not only of our boxers but all Filipino athletes. Now, more than ever, they need us to stand firmly behind them”, Vargas said.
