Filipina fencer Samantha Catantan shared that she is set to take a break from the piste again after sustaining another anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during the 2024 Paris Olympics.The 22-year-old Catantan announced the development on Monday, August 5, in an Instagram post, just a week after she concluded her campaign in the women’s foil event last July 28.

The 32-year-old PBA rookie Caelan Tiongsion is ready to bring his bountiful overseas experience to his new team Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and prove that it’s never too late to pursue his dreams.During Monday's Media Day at the Le Parc Event Hall of the Metropark in Pasay City, Tiongson told the sportswriters, “You guys saw a 32-year-old rookie last year emerging as a top newcomer, so I don't know if you're forgetting about that so fast, but yeah, I'm excited." The seventh pick overall in the recent draft was referring to Stephen Holt, who made an impact last season and helped the Terrafirma Dyip reach the Philippine Cup playoffs.

Justin Brownlee secured another championship to his accolades after Pelita Jaya reigned the 2024 Indonesia Basketball League (IBL) after subduing Satria Muda Pertamina Jakarta, 73-65, on Sunday, August 4, at the Indomilk Arena. The well-loved Gilas Pilas naturalized player and Barangay Ginebra import did not have a huge offensive night but he made his presence felt by producing 14 points, including eight in the third quarter alone, together with five rebounds. Indonesian team naturalized player Anthony Beane paced the squad with 23 markers, spiked by six triples, while former PBA import KJ McDaniels contributed 14 and seven boards.Forward Muhamad Arighi had 13 points as well, spiked by three triples, off the bench as Pelita Jaya won its second IBL title after seven years.With the crown tucked under his belt, Brownlee is expected to fly back to Manila soon to rejoin Barangay Ginebra as he looks to lead his team in the upcoming PBA Season 49, which kicks off with the Governor’s Cup. 

After winning the interim fight with Gustavo “El Gladdiator” Balart, Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks wants to challenge his longtime rival and reigning divisional king from the Philippines  Joshua “The Passion” Pacio for the third time. The highly anticipated unification trilogy between Brooks and Pacio should be coming into fruition once the Filipino athlete recovers from his torn ACL.Jarred Brooks was disqualified and lost the ONE Strawweight MMA World Title back in March, but he’s hungry to redeem himself and get back to his previous glory as the undisputed king. During their clash last March, Brooks was disqualified in the first round of the contest after slamming Pacio head and neck first into the canvas, resulting in an anticlimactic finish. Pacio then sustained a neck injury.Brooks accepted the bout for the division’s interim crown against Balart while Pacio continues to recover from his injury. However, now that Brooks owns the interim gold, he is super excited and can’t wait to settle the score with Pacio in a high-stakes rubber match.Brooks now has a professional record of 21-3, scoring his 11th finish.

After winning two consecutive gold medals in the Paris Olympics, the well known “Philippine’s Golden Boy” Carlos Yulo didn't forget to thank God first above for the skills and abilities he acquired for the competition. Yulo didn't even lose hope in the prestigious competition, instead he trusted the will of God for his own benefit and good. Yet, he didn't get wrong. What Caloy wished for his country and personal life, all of them in one blink of an eye, God gave it to him without any hesitation. He received a lot of greetings from different prominent people not only from his country where he came from but also from different other nations.

Serbian tennis sensation Novak Djokovic has finally completed his career golden grand slam after winning the Olympic Games gold in Paris. He defeated Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in a tightly contested match and won two sets 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to earn his first Olympic gold.The 37 year-old and currently world’s No. 1 ranked tennis player joined Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, who have won all four tennis majors (the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open) and an Olympic gold medal in singles.Djokovic has won the Australian Open 10 times, Tour Finals seven times, Wimbledon seven times, US Open three times, and French Open three times.He sealed the title with a forehand. After getting the gold-clinching point, he turned to his box with an outstretched arm, and threw his racquet to the floor in celebration after the match lasted for almost three hours.After the match, he hugged his opponent Alcaraz before bursting into tears and fell to his knee in the middle of the Paris' Court Philippe-Chatrier.Then, Novak unfurled the Serbian and went to the stands to celebrate the victory with his family and support.

The Philippine bet Ernest John “EJ” Obiena came so close to ending the country’s 88-year Olympic medal drought in athletics as he placed fourth at the Paris Olympics men’s pole vault at the Stade de France early Tuesday, August 6 (Manila time).The world No. 2 and acclaimed as one of the Philippines’ strongest medal hopefuls, Obiena, who owns the Asian record of 6.0 meter clearance, failed to clear 5.95 meter height in the 12-man final and lost the bronze to Emmanouil Karalis of Greece.Like Obiena, Karalis, ranked world No. 8 in the sport, also cleared 5.90m but nipped the Filipino for the last podium spot due to fewer attempts.

Filipina-American hurdler Lauren Hoffman is out of contention after she failed to advance in the semifinals of the women’s 400 meters at the Stade de France in Paris held on Monday, August 5.Hoffman placed seventh and last in Heat 3 of the repechage round, clocking in a time of 58.28 seconds.Qualifying from the third repechage heat were France's Shana Grebo (54.91s) and Ukraine's Anna Ryzhykova (54.95s).The first-time Olympian was relegated to repechage after failing to qualify during the first round of the competition. Hoffman registered 57.84 seconds, finishing 37th overall among 39 participants.Another Filipino track athlete, John Cabang Tolentino, will also compete in the repechage of the men's 110 meter hurdles after a sixth-place finish in the heats on Sunday, August 4.

Carlos Edriel “Caloy” Yulo’s memorable win at the 2024 Paris Olympics comes with its perks that will mark his place in Philippine history.From millions of pesos in cash prizes, to perks at selected establishments, the Philippines’ “Golden Boy” comes home from Paris to a myriad of rewards that are waiting for him across the Philippines.We take a look at the rewards that the 24-year-old Olympian will come home to after what has been a historic run at the biggest sporting stage of them all.

Heavy-hitting performances propelled Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio into the next round of their Paris campaign as both Filipina boxers blew past their respective events, securing two Olympic medals for Team Philippines.Continuing a display of boxing mastery, Petecio outpoints Chinese foe Xu Zichun, 5-0, in the women’s 57kg quarterfinals bout Sunday afternoon, August 4, at the North Paris Arena. The 32-year-old pride of Davao del Sur made sure her rival was no match for her as she clinched the win through the first two rounds of the match. Petecio reached the safe waters in the third round but still opted to engage a suddenly active Xu, who attempted to reclaim the advantage that clearly belonged to the Philippines.Petecio won via unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, to assure herself a chance to surpass the silver medal finish that she bagged during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Filipino hurdlers John Cabang Tolentino and Lauren Hoffman were unable to book an outright semifinals ticket and were relegated to repechage following the result of their respective events in the 2024 Paris Olympics athletics competitions at the Stade De Paris on Sunday, August 4.Cabang Tolentino marked his Summer Games debut after clocking in a time of 13.66 seconds, placing him sixth in the Heat 1 of the men’s 110 meters hurdles. Overall, he finished No. 32 among 39 hurdlers with Grant Holloway of the United States topping the race with his time of 13.01 seconds, showing readiness for his redemption campaign after nabbing silver in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.Meanwhile, Hoffman, a first-time Olympian as well, was also dropped in the repechage round of the women’s 400 meters hurdles after finishing 37th overall out of 40 participants with a time of 57.84 seconds, two seconds slower than the national record of 55.72 seconds she set in April.Only the top three racers in each five heats and the next three fastest advanced to the semifinals, with Tokyo Games bronze medalist Femke Bol of the Netherlands registering 53.38 seconds to lead the pack.Hoffman returns to action on Monday, August 5, for the repechage, while Tolentino will get one last shot at the semifinals which will be held on Tuesday, August 6.

Alas Pilipinas captured a bronze medal finish after a strong showing against Indonesia to cap off the first leg Southeast Asian (SEA) V.League on Sunday, August 4, at the Vinh Phuc Hall in Vietnam.Alas won 25-23, 15-25, 25-23, 25-21, in 4 sets.The win prompted the Filipinas to their first tournament podium finish since back-to-back bronze finishes in its inaugural legs of the four-team meet in 2019, when it was still called the ASEAN Grand Prix. They also had endured winless campaigns in 2022 and 2023.National University standout Alyssa Solomon capped her national team comeback with a team-best 16 points on 14 kills, an attack, and an ace. Eya Laure and Sisi Rondina provided stability, contributing 13 markers apiece while Premier Volleyball League’s (PVL) top pick Thea Gagate chipped in 10 to aid the team. On the other hand, Arsela Nuari Purnama paced the Indonesian team, churning out 22 points from 19 attacks, two aces, and block, while Megawati Petiwi backed her up with 18 in the losing effort.Powerhouse Thailand and host Vietnam will dispute the gold medal, while Alas Pilipinas eyes another podium finish in the second leg of the tournament in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from August 9 to 11. 

The pairing for the 2024 Paris Olympics Men’s Basketball Tournament is already set and will take place on Tuesday, August 6 (local time in France).FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 champions Germany will be the one to start the quarters against Greece to be followed by Serbia against Australia.The third game will feature the host country France against Canada and the fourth match-up will be Brazil against the powerhouse Team USA.The Knockout Semi-Final stage will be on August 8. The winner of the Germany versus Greece will face the winner of the Canada-France battle while the winner of the Serbia-Australia match-up will face the winner of the Brazil versus USA game.The Finals and battle for bronze will be on August 9 to cap off the men’s basketball tournament.

Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena pulls through a shaky start as he continues his hunt for the Philippines’ first Olympic athletics medal in 88 years.The world’s second-best pole vaulter advanced to the men’s pole vault finals after reaching the Top 12 of the qualifiers on Saturday, August 3 (Manila time) at the Stade de France in Paris. Obiena nearly saw his dreams and years of hard work go down the drain after a seemingly uncharacteristic performance in his first two attempts. He surprisingly fumbled both of his opening jumps in the 5.60 meters bar.The University of Santo Tomas product held his nerve and decided to disregard his third try in the 5.60m level and opted to raise the bar to 5.70m. Obiena hurdled the height in a single attempt to stave off elimination.Obiena rediscovered his form and easily surpassed 5.75 meters to finish seventh overall and claim his place in the 12-man finale headlined by reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden.The 28-year-old Obiena seeks to bounce back from his 11th-place finish in the Tokyo Olympics as he competes in the final set on August 6 (Manila time).The Philippines last bagged an athletics medal in the Olympics in 1936 when Miguel White finished with a bronze medal in the men’s 400-meter hurdles held in Berlin.

Carlos Edriel Yulo has truly become the Philippines “Golden Boy” after capturing not just one but two golds in the grandest stage of sports.Yulo won his first Olympic gold medal in the men’s artistics gymnastic’s floor exercise last Saturday, July 3.He became the first male Filipino athlete to bring home an Olympic gold for the country and the second overall after Hidilyn Diaz got the first one in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.During the finals of the floor exercise, Yulo scored 15.000 points to dethrone Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat, who eventually got the silver medal by tallying 14.966 points while top qualifier Jake Jarman of Great Britain bagged bronze with 14.933 points. Just 24 hours after clinching his first gold medal in Paris, Yulo got another one by topping the vault finals. He scored a massive 15.433 in his first vault followed by 14.800 in his second to have an impressive average of 15.116.The other two podium finishers in the vault were former world champion and Tokyo silver medalist Artur Davytan of Armenia who bagged another silver with his 14.966 performance, and Great Britain’s Harry Hepworth brought the bronze with an average of 14.949 points. With two golds from Caloy Yulo and an assured of at least bronze for boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas, the Philippines has already matched its four-medal haul in Tokyo - the biggest in Philippine Olympic history.The Philippine Centennial delegation can still overcome the feat as EJ Obiena entered in the men’s pole vault while the other athletics representative Lauren Hoffman (women’s 400m hurdles) and John Cabang Tolentino (men’s 100m hurdle) were relegated to the repechage round. Golfer Bianca Pagdanganan will start her quest for a medal on August 7 while weightlifters John Ceniza, Eireen Ando and Vanessa Sarno will also have their opportunity this week.Having two golds already, assured of another two medals, and six more athletes having a chance to bag more, this can truly be called the golden era of the Philippine delegation in the Olympics while celebrating the 100 years of participating in the Summer Games.

Filipina rower Joanie Delcago raced for the last time in the 2024 Paris Olympics.Delcago concluded her Paris Olympic campaign after finishing second in the women’s single sculls Final D after clocking in 7:43.83 at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Friday, August 02.Overall, Delgaco winded up 20th, a respectable finish in what already is a historic outing in her first Olympic stint.The 26-year-old, who is the first Filipina rower to compete in the Olympics, qualified in the quarterfinals after toppling the repechage heat with 7:55:00. 

Cebuano weightlifters Elreen Ando and John Ceniza will begin their quest for Olympic gold next week, but this early, the acting mayor of Cebu City has promised to give them a huge bonus if they win medals in Paris.Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia is committed to award Ando and Ceniza 1 million each from his personal funds if they can clinch gold medals in weightlifting.

Hergie Bacyadan bravely took the challenge but ultimately succumbed to top seed Li Qian of China in the Round of 16 of the women’s 75kg at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Wednesday, July 31, at North Paris Arena.The 34-year-old Chinese, a two-time Olympic medalist, scored long jabs and quick combinations in taking unanimous 5-0 decision against the 29-year-old Filipina, who was making her Olympic debut.The Igorot boxer tried to match up with the more seasoned Chinese boxer in the opening round, but Li was able to impose her will against the debutant, earning the nod from all five judges.Bacyadan, a first-time Olympian, would connect combination shots against Li in the third round, also putting the Chinese bet on the ropes, but it proved too late as the latter secured the victory with a dominant performance.The loss of Bacyadan came just hours after Olympic medal bet Eumir Marcial bombed out in the men’s light-heavyweight class.

Chile’s table tennis player Zeng Zhiying proved that age is just a number by being the country’s representative in the Paris Olympics. She fulfilled the athlete’s dream of playing in the grandest stage at 58 years old.Despite bowing out early in the tournament, Zhiying still shone with her own spotlight because of her grit to finally reach her Olympic dream in a tourney where it’s filled with all sorts of players from different ages and backgrounds.Zeng made her Olympic debut on Saturday but fell short in the preliminary round where she lost to Lebanon’s Mariana Sahakian, 1-4.Before Zeng’s match, she made sure to thank her father and brother for the support they have given throughout her journey.

After heartbreaking losses from the women’s rowing and women’s judo, Kalya Sanchez kept the women's medal dream alive for the Philippines as she entered the semifinal round of women’s 100m freestyle in swimming.Sanchez swam to the top 16 with a time of 53.67, earning the country a slot in the semi-finals. She even ranked number four in heat 4.This is the second Olympic stint of Sanchez who previously represented Canada in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won silver.The semifinals will be tomorrow, July 31, 3:25 a.m. PH time.