Filipino boxer Nesthy Petecio settled for a bronze medal after losing to Poland’s Julia Szeremeta in the 2024 Paris Olympics women’s boxing 57kg semifinals on Thursday, August 7.
Petecio won the first round after sweeping the judges’ scorecards. But her 20-year-old Polish opponent regained control in the second round as she got the nods of four judges.
In the third round, Nesthy Petecio was brought to the floor at one point due to Szeremeta’s swift footwork. The Polish boxer finally claimed victory after a split decision of 4-1.
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“I thought it was going my way this time. I really believed that I would get it. But the win was not given to us,” said Petecio in Filipino in an interview with Olympic broadcaster Cignal. “I’m still thankful because I fought well.”
Julia Szeremeta will face China’s Lin Yu Ting or Turkey’s Esra Yildiz in the finals. Petecio beat Lin three years ago in the Tokyo Olympics, but the Chinese-Taiwanese boxer got her revenge as she defeated Petecio in the Asian Games last year in Hangzhou, China,
Despite taking home a bronze medal, this year’s games are still a huge achievement for Nesthy Petecio. After all, she’s one of the four Filipino athletes who have obtained two Olympic medals. She joins swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso (bronze in 1982 and 1932), weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz (silver in 2016 and gold in 2020), and Carlos Yulo (two golds in 2024).
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According to Rappler, Nesthy Petecio hinted months before that the Paris Games would be the boxer’s final Olympic stint, but she still plans to continue fighting as she hopes to complete her collection of Asian Games titles.
In total, the Philippines sent a team of five boxers to this year’s Paris Olympics. Looking back, Carlo Paalam lost the quarterfinals to Australia’s Charlie Senior in the men’s 57kg division. Eumir Marcial and Hergie Bacyadan made their exit after one fight. Meanwhile, Aira Villegas won three straight rounds before taking home a bronze medal after losing to Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu.
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