NESTHY Petecio has already been overwhelmed way before she even climbs the ring in her return to the Olympics.
The 32-year-old boxer was thrilled serving as flagbearer of Team Philippines during the unique, colorful opening ceremony of the Paris Games early Saturday morning (Manila time) at the stylish French capital.
Petecio, along with fellow boxer Carlo Paalam, waved and carried the Philippine flag during the traditional march of nations held at the Bank of Seine that saw delegations from different countries being transported on boats.
The two boxers were at the forefront of the small, rain-drenched Filipino contingent which participated in the lavish opening ceremony never ever seen before in the history of the Olympics.
A silver medal winner in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, just like Paalam, Petecio said she felt blessed about the once in a lifetime experience.
“Sobrang honored na isa ako sa napili na maging Philippine flagbearer,” said the Filipina featherweight.
Could've been EJ or Caloy
Petecio, though, admitted being surprised the first time she was told about being the country's latest Olympic flagbearer. She even furthered that if there was anyone from the 22-strong Philippine team deserving of the honor, there were two names that stood out.
“Ang nasa isip ko talagang magiging flagbearer is EJ [Obiena] and Caloy [Yulo]. Sila talaga,” Petecio said.
Obiena, of course, is the world No. 2 pole vaulter, while Yulo is the multi-tiled gymnast in world and Asian competitions alike. The two are also among the Philippines' top medal bets in its Olympic campaign this year.
“Never kong inisip talaga na magiging isa ako dun,” added Petecio. “So very thankful talaga ako.”
Yulo wasn’t around during the parade of nations, as he needed to take a rest for the gymnastics qualification to be held the day after the opening ceremony.
Obiena, on the other hand, is still with his team in training camp outside of Paris pending the August 3 qualifier for men’s pole vault at Stade de France.
Petecio, who’s been with Team Philippines in its own training camp in Metz, France for almost a month, won’t be in the ring until July 30 when she faces Jaismine of India in the the women’s 57kg Round of 32.
She joined the likes of David Nepomuceno, Simeon Toribio, Jimmy Mariano, Isidro Del Prado, Eric Buhain, Arlo Chavez, Reynaldo Galido, Donald Geisler, Hidilyn Diaz, Eumir Marcial, the late Yan Lariba, and the great Manny Pacquiao, among others, in the long list of Filipino flagbearers during the Olympics.
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