Carlo Paalam, who fell short of winning the Philippines’ first Olympic boxing gold medal last Saturday, hopes that his struggles and journey for greatness will serve as an inspiration to a younger generation athletes, who are seeking to overcome difficult situations.
“Sana mabigyan ko sila ng inspirasyon. Sa nakikita ko, kahit konti ay mahigitan pa nila ang nagawa ko. At kayanin nilang ma-push ang mga pangarap nila,” said the 23-year old Paalam, a day after losing to Great Britain's Galal Yafai.
Yafai won via 4-1 split decision over Paalam in the men’s flyweight division to capture Britain's first boxing gold medal in the men’s at the Tokyo Olympics.
Paalam talked about his aspirations on a web conference after he and Eumir Marcial got caught by surprise on Sunday morning by Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino.
Tolentino revealed that Paalam and Marcial will join Nesthy Petecio in getting a house and lot in Tagaytay.
“Iyung mga nag-silver at bronze ay bibigyan ko rin ng house and lot, " said Tolentino.
Paalam and Marcial, erupted in joy upon hearing Tolentino's announcement.
Tolentino only promised a house and lot for a gold medalist (weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz), but decided to give the same incentive to the boxers.
Diaz now stands to get a total of P55.5 million in incentives, while Paalam and Petecio will receive an additional P2 million each to bring their totals to at least P19 million.
Paalam became the fourth medalist to bring home an Olympic medal for the country at the 2020 games.