TWO-TIME boxing Olympic medalist Nesthy Petecio recently rejected rumors that she is hanging up her boxing gloves and giving up on her dream of striking gold in the Los Angeles (LA) Games.
“Walang hihinto hanggat walang ginto,” Ms. Petecio said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards Night at the Manila Hotel recently.
But while Ms. Petecio’s heart and mind are willing, her body may not as the Tokyo silver and Paris bronze winner will be 35 by the time the next Olympics are staged in Los Angeles.
There is also another issue surrounding Ms. Petecio’s bid — LA possibly leaving boxing off its calendar.
Ms. Petecio, however, is optimistic there will be boxing in LA.
“Ako, sobrang 100% ako na me Olympic boxing talaga,” she said.
Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines Secretary-General Marcus Manalo said Ms. Petecio will be given a chance to qualify.
“We’ll see and we’ll take it a year at a time and think of the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand this year first,” Mr. Manalo said.
“The most important thing is she must be with the national team and prepare early,” he added. — Joey Villar