Tokyo—Nesthy Petecio stood at the center of the Kokugikan Arena and bowed four times, each for every corner, flashing a wide smile while pointing to the sky and then to the Philippine flag sewn on her red uniform.
Up to the umpteenth time, Petecio deflected all the credit and love to her country, family, coaches, and a late friend.
Except this time, there was a new name on her thank you list—the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community.
In a coming out party of sorts, Petecio made official what everyone already knew as she thanked the community she is a part of following her silver-medal finish in the featherweight boxing finals of the Summer Olympic Games here on Tuesday.
“I am proud to be part of the LGBTQ community. Sulong, laban!” said Petecio after a unanimous decision loss to hometown bet Sena Irie.
Petecio has always been proud of her sexual orientation as she openly flaunts her appreciation of her lady friends in countless social media posts. But it was the first time that she officially addressed the elephant in the room.
“Para rin po sa LGBTQ community ang laban na ‘to,” said Petecio, who also, and again praised the lesser-known people behind her Olympic accomplishment, achieved only for the third time by the Philippines in its 97-year participation in the Olympiad.
“It means a lot to me. I dedicate this fight for my family, and for my countrymen, and to my coaches. I know that you’ve sacrificed a lot for this competition, that’s why I’m emotional during this awarding. I am emotional because this tournament is very important not only for me, but for my country, and for my coaches,” said Petecio, who found a 0-5 deficit in the first round too steep of a hill to climb, allowing Irie to pull off the victory.
The feisty Filipina made a game out of it in the second, raising her level of aggression with her patented inside and outside attacks to earn the nod of the four judges, except the Argentinean official.
But Irie stood her ground in the third and survived, unleashing a couple of combinations while clinching most of the time when it was Petecio’s turn to be aggressive. It wasn’t an emphatic win, but the hometown girl still secured a 5-0 triumph, with four judges giving Irie a 29-28 score and the official from Argentina seeing it a one-sided 30-27.
It was the Philippines’ third boxing silver in the Olympiad, matching the runner-up finishes of flyweight Mansueto Onyok Velasco in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and Anthony Villanueva in the 1964 edition in Tokyo.
It was, however, the country's first for a "female" boxer, who may have failed to upgrade her silver into gold.
But she can always turn to the colors of her tribe — hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet – to announce to the world she’s gay, and proud of it.