OLYMPIC-bound Irish Magno celebrated her birthday on Monday all by her lonesome.
Magno was all alone at her dorm inside the Philsports Sports Complex on the day she turned 29 after her flight back home to Iloilo was cancelled at the last minute.
Members of the Philippine boxing team quartered at the venue had all gone home on the same day Magno was also set to depart for home. They included AIBA World Championship gold medal winner Nesthy Petecio, who left Manila for Davao.
Magno it turned out, was notified by the airline on Sunday that her flight has been cancelled.
“Nakakalungkot. Ako na lang ang mag-isa rito,” she said in a chat with SPIN.ph
If there’s any consolation, it was the outpouring of support and greetings on her special day.
“Happy na rin po,” Magno said.

Her coach, Olympian Reynaldo Galido, was among her first well-wishers and she Magno to always stay positive.
“Alam namin na ikaw lang diyan sa ULTRA na mag-celebrate ng yung birthday,” said Galido in a post on his Facebook page showing him and Magno during the Olympic qualifying tournament they joined last March in Jordan where Irish booked a berth to the Tokyo Games.
“Basta think positive lang lagi. Makaka-uwi ka rin. Ingat ka diyan. Happy birthday Olympian.”
It would have been Irish’s first birthday celebration back home after 12 years and would have been his first trip to Iloilo for almost a year after concentrating on her training for the Olympic qualifier.
After the Tokyo qualifier, Magno however, find herself locked down at the headquarters of the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (ABAP) headquarters in Baguio City together with the rest of the national team.
When they were finally transported back to Manila by July, they underwent swab testing and then quarantined for 14 days at Philsports Complex.
Everything seemed going according to plan until the flight snag spoiled Irish’s supposed birthday celebration.
Magno said she had no idea right now as to when the next booking will be.
“Wala pa silang sinasabi sa akin,” said Magno, perhaps referring to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
If there’s any consolation she had being alone at Philsports right now, it could be a good upstart for her training for the Olympics where complete and total focus are needed.
“Ok lang din sir, nasasanay na din,” she said.
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