Paalam says hello to bright future ahead after his success.
On August 7, 2021, the Philippines’ Carlo Paalam competed in the Men’s boxing flyweight division finals. He went head-to-head against Galal Yafai of Great Britain.
During the first round, Paalam scored all-9, versus Yafai’s perfect-10. The second round was rather the same, especially with Yafai ending the round with still a near perfect score. By the end of round 3, a split decision was called. Yafai got the score of 29 to 28 from four judges, with Paalam scoring the same from one judge.
Despite losing the match, Paalam remains a triumphant athlete as he bagged the silver medal, the second of such of the country in Tokyo 2020 — after Nesthy Petecio‘s win last Tuesday.
He is also entitled to a P5 million incentive from the national government. To date, at least P12 million had already been pledged by various politicians and private firms.
Apart from that, Paalam also set a few records, the most notable of which is being the first athlete of the country to successfully clinch a second silver in a single Olympiad. He also completes the country’s campaign at the Tokyo 2020 games, pushing the final medal tally to 4 — 1 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze.
Speaking of which, thanks to Paalam’s win, the country is also able to finish ahead of its ASEAN neighbors. Current standings indicate that the Philippines is #47 overall, with the closest SEA country being Indonesia at #51.
PH’s performance at the 2020 Summer Olympics is also its strongest showing in history. The second best was in 1932 when 3 bronze were bagged by Team Philippines.