PARIS—(Via PLDT Home) The Paris Olympics opening ceremony pulled through with a flourish amid an unceremonious summer rain on the river Seine on Friday night with members of Team Philippines expressing undampened spirits for the 15 days of competitions ahead.
“The heat of competition is on!” said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, who, like almost everyone else in the most-watched Olympic opening ceremony ever, wore a raincoat to minimize getting wet in the four-hour event that a wire agency described as resembling an open-air theater with Celine Dion belting what she does best in a major public comeback.
“But the opening ceremony was indeed spectacular, an amazing theatrical presentation,” Tolentino added.
But what’s on Tolentino’s mind as the 10 athletes and six officials merrily waved flags on board a boat they shared with delegations from Poland and Puerto Rico during the 6-km parade of nations on Seine were the upcoming campaign of the 22-athlete strong team.
Rower Joanie Delgaco went on board first on Saturday morning in rowing’s women’s singles sculls heats at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium located some 35 kms from the heart of Paris.
Carlos Yulo, a former world champion in floor exercise and vault and a returning Olympian, was also due to compete in the qualification round of men’s artistic gymnastics at Bercy Arena.
Boxing’s where Tolentino felt cautious—Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial has to summon his experience and savvy when—after drawing a bye as the seventh-seeded light heavyweight—he fights a 20-year-old and two inches taller at 6-foot-1 Uzbek Turabek Khabibullaev.
“It’s Hergie who has to be in her best elements in her first fight,” said Tolentino, referring to Olympics first-timer Hergie Bacyadan who’ll face top-seeded women’s middleweight Li Qian of China on Tuesday.
“If she beats the Chinese, she’ll be in good control the rest of her fight,” Tolentino said.
Tolentino also said that athletics hurdlers Lauren Hoffman and John Cabang Tolentino are due at the Olympic Village on Saturday while weightlifters Vanessa Sarno, Erleen Ando and John Febuar Cenina are arriving on August 4 yet from training camp in Germany.
