FOR the first time in nearly nine decades, the Philippines will finish with multiple medals in the Olympics.
That's after boxer Nesthy Petecio entered the semifinals of the women's featherweight division with an emphatic unanimous decision win over Colombia's Yeni Arias to assure herself of at least a bronze medal.
Couple that with weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz' achievement in the women's 55 kg category to deliver the Philippines' first ever gold medal and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics truly has been good for the Filipino athletes.
Still looking add to the Philippines' haul are boxers Eumir Felix Marcial, gymnast Caloy Yulo, and golfers Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan, and Juvic Pagunsan.
The last time the Philippines had more than one medal in the Olympiad? Eighty-nine years ago in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.
There, the Philippines took home three bronze medals after sending eight athletes in three sports.
Swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso replicated his feat four years back and secured his second Olympic bronze medal, placing third in the men's 200m breaststroke after clocking 2:47.1, which made him the most bemedalled Filipino athlete in the games until Diaz joined the club 89 years later.
The man known as the Ilocano Shark topped heat 3 with his 2:53.7 time, before placing second in the second semifinal with his 2:48.4.
Yldefonso unfortunately trailed the Japanese pair of Yoshiyuki Tsuruta and Reizo Koike in the final, but still was able to make the podium to repeat the accomplishment he had in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.
Trackster Simeon Toribio also made it to the stage in the men's high jump as he cleared 1.97 meters.
It was actually a four-way tie for first place as none of the jumpers clearing 2.0 meters that it necessitated a jump-off between the competitors.
Canada's Duncan McNaughton claimed gold after the first to clear 1.97 meters, before United States' Bob Van Osdel followed suit to bag the silver, and Toribio doing it next to capture the bronze and fending off USA's Cornelius Johnson.
Completing the Filipino trifecta was boxer Jose Villanueva, bagged bronze in the men's bantamweight division.
Villanueva, an alumnus of Far Eastern University, gained a bye and bested Japan's Akira Nakao in the quarterfinals. However, his run was cut short after he fell to eventual gold medalist Horace Gwynne of Canada in their semifinal clash.
Villanueva did rebound with a victory over USA's Joseph Lang in the bronze medal match, back when the Olympics were still staging third place bouts in boxing.
Eighty-nine years later, the Philippines is set to celebrate not just one but multiple Olympic medalists.
Laban Pilipinas, indeed.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph