PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino with former pro boxing champion GennadiyGennadyevich Golovkin, or Triple G, at the Athletes Village.

NESTHY PETECIO and Carlo Paalam will be in the forefront as flag-bearers of a 16-member Philippine representation in the never-done-before opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on Friday.

“We’ll be a proud and hopeful 16-strong Team Philippines in the opening ceremony,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino from Paris who won’t be joining the parade of countries and will be sitting in the Olympic Family section on a bank along the Seine River.

Joining the two boxing silver medalists at Tokyo 2020 are their fellow boxers Aira Villegas and Hergie Bacyadan, hurdlers Lauren Hoffman and John Cabang Tolentino, swimmers Kayla Sanchez and Jarrod Hatch, gymnast Aleah Finnegan and fencer Samantha Catantan.

Chef de Mission Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla and sports officials Michael Angelo Vargas (swimming), Marcus Manalo (boxing), Cynthia Carrion Norton (gymnastics), Patrick Gregorio (rowing) and Agapito “Terry” Capistrano (athletics) will also be on the boat assigned for the Philippines in the lavish ceremony that start at 7:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. in Manila).

Tolentino said that boxer Eumir Felix Marcial, gymnast Carlos Yulo and rower Joanie Delgaco will open their campaign on Saturday and won’t be joining the parade as well as  pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena, who wanted to focus more in his pre-games preps in Normandy.

The three weightlifters— Vanessa Sarno, John Febuar Cenizaand Erleen Ann Ando— have yet to conclude their training in Metz and are due at the Olympic Village on August 6, according to Tolentino.

“The schedule of our Olympian athletes have been meticulously crafted by their coaches so there won’t be hitches as they approach their competition days,” said Tolentino, who made the rounds of the Athletes Village after arriving in Paris on Wednesday and got to meet former multiple pro boxing champion Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin, or Triple G, who’s part of the Kazakhstan boxing team.

Completing the 22-athlete Team Philippines are gymnasts Emma Malabuyo and Levi Ruivivar, golfers Bianca Pagdanganand Dottie Ardina and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe.

The Paris Games organizers describe the opening ceremony as “bold, original and unique” that for the first time in Olympichistory, the opening cwill not take place in a stadium but on the Seine River.

The organizers said that parade of athletes will cover 6 kms on the Seine with boats for each national delegation—the boats will be equipped with cameras to allow television and online viewers to see the athletes up close.

HANGZHOU—“It’s worth a thousand golds!”

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino told Filipino reporters the morning after the Philippines—through its men’s basketball team now popularly called Gilas Pilipinas—won the Asian Games gold medal that took 61 years to accomplish but needed only two weeks to process.

Add in head coach Tim Cone putting together his own version a Navy Seal Team 6 when, just under a month ago, a crew of special forces couldn’t get a modest job done back in Manila in the FIBA 2023 World Cup.

“It’s God’s will, prayers answered,” said Tolentino, who broke tradition by traveling to the luxurious Media Village inside the sprawling Asian Games Village to assemble a press conference.

“But that’s actually five gold medals won all in all, counting Eumir’s [Felix Marcial] silver,” he added.

Marcial settled for silver in his first foray in boxing’s light heavyweight division, a heavier category to the middleweight class where he clinched bronze in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics two years ago.

Tolentino stayed virtually mum after Ernest John “EJ” Obiena expectedly won the men’s pole vault title in an Asian Games record 5.90 meters for the country’s first gold medal in these games host China has dominated from the very beginning.

The target was to hit four golds to match the haul in Jakarta and Palembang four years ago.

But the bullseye became a blur in the distance when Margielyn Didal limped to a DNF in skateboarding and an “underwomanned” golf team of Rianne Malixi and Lois Kaye Go couldn’t be on a par with the pros who are now allowed to play in the Asian Games.

“There are more chances, let’s see,” Tolentino said at that time, when the games were some 10 days old.

Then came that mini, mini streak in jiu-jitsu. Fluish and stuffed with colds medicine, Meggie Ochoa struck gold to validate her two world championships crowns and Annie Ramirez followed suit to make it 3-2-12 (gold-silver-bronze) for the Philippines at the bottom half but close to the median of the medal tally board.

The came a 24-hour wait for that Philippines-Jordan men’s basketball gold medal match—Gilas 70, Jordan 60.

Bang! It was a “shot heard around the continent” and most glaringly, the entire Philippines.

The Asian Games men’s basketball gold medal is coming home again to Manila after more than six decades.

“After 61 years … Thank you Lord, we proved once again that the Philippines is the No. 1 in Asia,” Tolentino said.