With 2024 just around the corner, athletes all around the world are keeping their eye on the upcoming Olympics in Paris, France — and that includes our very own country. So far, these are the Pinoy Olympians who have qualified for Paris 2024:

EJ Obiena

Pole vaulting star and World No. 2 EJ Obiena became the first Filipino to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics after a successful run last July 3, 2023 at the BAUHAUS Galan in Stockholm, Sweden, which also kicked off the Olympic qualifying season for pole vaulting. He cleared the 5.82-meter mark, earning a silver medal, second only to World No. 1 pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis of Sweden.

“We continue THE WORK as we still have lots to do. Made some rookie mistakes yesterday. It just shows I am still a student of the game,” Obiena wrote in an Instagram post after securing his ticket to Paris 2024.

Most recently, he secured the first gold medal for the Philippines at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Carlos Yulo

Gymnast Carlos Yulo qualified for Paris 2024 just last Sunday, October 1, in the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Sportspalais in Antwerp, Belgium. Despite a disappointing performance in the vault on the first day, he made an impressive comeback in the floor exercise event. He became the highest-ranked eligible athlete in the men’s floor exercise after finishing third behind Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat of Israel and US’ Frederick Richard, who were both already qualified for the Olympics before this tournament.

Aleah Finnegan

Gymnast Aleah Finnegan is the first Filipina athlete to qualify for Paris 2024 after competing in the same tournament as Yulo. The 20-year-old athlete secured her ticket to the upcoming Olympics after she finished as one of the 14 highest-ranked eligible gymnasts during the women’s all-around event.

Finnegan was born to an American father and a Filipina mother Linabelle. Her sister Hannah also represented the country in a previous Southeast Asian Games. Prior to representing the Philippines, Finnegan was gunning to join the US Olympic team but fell short of advancing. She thought her career was over then, but the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines reached out to her, asking her to be the PH representative at the 2022 SEA Games, where she bagged four medals.

Eumir Marcial

On October 4, boxer Eumir Marcial snagged a spot to Paris 2024 after advancing to the finals of the men’s 80-kilogram weight class at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. During the semi-finals match, he successfully knocked out his opponent Ahmad Ghousoon of Syria, giving him a chance to bag the gold medal in the finals.
At Tokyo 2021, Marcial earned bronze fighting in the middleweight class.

Hopefuls

As the qualifying season for each sport varies depending on the tournaments’ schedules, many Filipino athletes are currently still Olympic hopefuls, as of writing.

Tokyo 2021 gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz is on track to return to the Olympic stage. Fellow weightlifter Elreen Ando and boxers Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam are also some of the other hopefuls aiming for a qualification for Paris 2024. Petecio and Paalam both bagged silver medals at Tokyo 2021.

The Philippines is hoping to send a delegation to Paris 2024 bigger than that for Tokyo 2021, which was also the games where the country recorded its best performance yet on the Olympic stage.

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