[EDITOR'S NOTE: Get to know the 22 Filipino athletes bound for the 2024 Paris Olympics through this SPIN.ph series]
CARLO Paalam's rags to riches story was one of the touching highlights of the Philippine campaign in the Tokyo Olympics four years ago.
Not until he won a silver medal that the Filipinos got to know him as the young scavenger from Cagayan de Oro who dreamed big and boxed his way to becoming an Olympic hero.
The sport which he describes as 'a gift' by God to him, allowed Paalam to lift his family from poverty.
"Yung boxing talaga nakatulong sa akin, hindi lang sa akin pati sa pamilya ko," he admitted. “Doon ko nasabi na ito yung gift na ibinigay ng Panginoon sa akin. Ibinigay niya itong talent na ito sa akin. Thankful ako na binigyan niya ako ng buhay para tumayo at maging matapang.”
The 26-year-old Paalam was born in Talakag, Bukidnon, but moved to Cagayan de Oro later on with his family to look for a better opportunity.
It was at CdO where he later worked as a scavenger in the city landfill.
The experience according to him, toughened him up in life growing up.
"Yung pangangalakal malaking bagay sa akin kasi doon ako tumibay at sinubok ng panahon na tumayo sa aking sariling paa tungo sa minimithi kong goal sa buhay,” said Paalam of the adversity he faced early on in his life.
It was during his stint as a scavenger when his potential as a fighter was discovered during a backyard fight.
He was later encouraged to join the 'Boxing at the Park' where he was eventually tapped to become initially a part of the Cagayan De Oro boxing program, before being recruited by the national boxing team in 2013.
His first medal overseas came at the 2016 AIBA Youth Asian and World Championship where he won a bronze, but didn’t get to medal in his first attempt at the Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia a year after.
It was in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta where Paalam began to make his presence felt, bagging the bronze in the men’s flyweight division, before winning the gold in the same weight class during the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in Manila.
Those victories proved to be a prelude to his silver medal finish in the Tokyo Games.
Paalam received around P17 million for his Olympic feat including the P5 million incentive from the Philippine Sports Commission under Republic Act. No. 10699.
Now that he’s back for a second Olympic stint in the Paris Games, the Filipino boxer, now fighting at a higher weight class at bantamweight, stands to receive even more especially if he gets to give Philippine boxing its first ever gold in the Summer Games.
More than the financial benefits, Paalam said there’s nothing more special winning for the country at the sports’ highest level.
“Hindi na apelyido yung dala namin, buong Pilipinas na ang dala namin,” he said of seeing action again in the Olympiad. “Mas masaya yung naririnig mo yung Pambansang Awit ng Pilipinas kapag nananalo ka.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
