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The first time the country ever joined a royal sporting event such as this was during the 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, held in Paris, France. Amazingly, PH is also the first ever country from Southeast Asia to win an Olympic medal.
The nation has participated in every Olympic sporting events since that fateful year, with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, wherein over 65 countries, including the Philippines, decided to boycott the ceremonies to protest the Soviet War in Afghanistan.
The Philippine Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Commitee of the Philippines. Founded in 1911, it is a private, non-governmental organization composed of and serving as the mother organization of all National Sports Associations in the country. By 1929, the International Olympic Commitee has recognized the POC as the sole representative for the Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and the Southeast Asian Games, among others.
Filipino athletes have won a total of nine Olympic medals which were won between the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam and 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The most medal our country has gained in a single year was during the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, wherein Simeon Toribio (Athletics), Jose Villanueva (Boxing), and Teofilo Yldefonso (Swimming) each won a Bronze medal for their efforts.
Teofilo Yldefonso is the first Filipino to win an Olympic medal and is the only Filipino to win multiple medals in two seperate occassions. He won his first Bronze medal at the 200-meter breaststroke event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, and his second Bronze at the same event at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. A random but interesting fact: Yldefonso also took part in the Bataan Death March in 1942.
Filipinos are particularly excellent in the sport of boxing, rooting back to the early years of the Olympics. Jose Villanueva, a bantamweight, won a Bronze medal in 1932 followed by Silver-medalist Anthony Villanueva in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics; Bronze-medalist Leopoldo Serantes in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Bronze-medalist Roel Velasco in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and Silver-medalist Onyok Velasco in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
It's amazing enough that two men who share the same blood both get to become Olympians, but even more astonishing is the fact that each of them would also end up taking home an Olympic medal. We're talking about previously mentioned Olympic boxers, father and son Jose and Anthony Villanueva. Jose won the Bronze medal in 1932 while Anthony won a Silver medal in 1964. Crazy coincidence, no?
More on the subject of blood-related Olympic legacy: Did you know that Roel Velasco, a Bronze-medalist boxer in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, is the older brother of Onyok Velasco, who in turn won the Silver medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics? What's with Filipino families and Olympic success?
While the country has not won any medals when it comes to basketball, many will never forget the Filipino Olympic hoops phenomenon that was Caloy Loyzaga. The man participated in three seperate Olympic events between 1952 and 1968, the first two as a basketball player and the third one as a coach. While he would only lead our country to a third-place finish in the 1954 World Championships, he will forever be regarded as the first Pinoy hoopster to put the world on notice.
While the country has won a total of nine medals, we currently hold the Olympic record for most medals won without a gold. The previous record was held by Mongolia with 20 non-gold medals, until bantamweight boxer Enkhbatyn Badar-Uugan won one at the Beijing Olympics back in 2008. Here's to hoping Mark Barriga achieves the same feat on our behalf!
