July 16, 2024
MANILA – For most athletes, the road to one of the biggest sporting events in the world can be nerve-wracking and pressure-packed.
Nesthy Petecio isn’t most athletes.
With the 2024 Paris Olympics looming, the Filipino female boxer made it known that she’s approaching the quadrennial event in an unorthodox manner.
“Chill lang,” said a carefree Petecio during an exclusive dinner event for the Paris-bound Filipino athletes.
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“I’m just chilling. The pressure’s there but I’m used to it so what I’m doing now is just making myself chill. I’m not thinking about our fights because they’re near. If I keep thinking about it, I’ll have a harder time,” added the featherweight sensation, laughing.
In retrospect, Petecio taking it easy shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, she’s been here before.
It wasn’t too long ago when Petecio found herself in the middle of the spotlight in Tokyo, Japan, three years ago.
A little improvement
The 32-year-old boxer settled for a silver medal in the pandemic-delayed Summer Games, the same Olympic edition where Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo ended the country’s wait for a gold medal.
There is reason to hope that Petecio can improve on that finish and snag a second Olympic gold for the country.
After all, Diaz-Naranjo was a silver medalist in the Summer Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which came before the Olympics where she crowned herself Philippine sport’s golden girl. Petecio knows all it takes is a little improvement to accomplish her goal. So for the most part, she’s sticking to a blueprint that almost did the job.
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“My training [for the Paris Olympics] and [for the Olympics in] Tokyo is almost the same. The only difference is, this isn’t the pandemic anymore,” explained Petecio.
“It’s not that easy anymore because everyone got exposure again, including competitions in other countries so now we go through multi-training. It’s not that easy this time in the Olympics.”Petecio’s shining moment in Tokyo was shunned by hometown bet Sena Irie.
Soon after though, Irie announced her retirement from the sport, leaving the women’s featherweight throne vacant for the next worthy queen of the ring.But Irie was largely seen as a hometown champion, buoyed by the cheers of her countrymen in Tokyo. And there will be even more capable opponents in Paris, which Petecio is very much aware of.
“The pressure’s there. It’s always there,” said the Davao native, who won’t worry over things beyond her control.
“For me, whatever I can handle, I’ll focus there. It’s a good thing though, that people see boxing as one of the sports that gives us (Philippines) glory. It makes me proud because it’s my sport, always seen and appreciated.”
With that mindset, Petecio is going back to the quadrennial event ready to punch her way to history anew.
“For my part, after all I’ve felt in Tokyo, I’m listening more to myself and my body. If that pressure comes back again, I’ll know how to handle it better now.”