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Meet Our Pinoy Para Athletes Who Will Compete at the Tokyo Summer Paralympics

After the excitement from the Tokyo Olympics has died down, it’s time to get pumped for the Tokyo Summer Paralympics. Para Games is a multisport event where athletes with a range of disabilities compete. The first and last time the Philippines won a medal at the Para Games was during Sydney 2000 where powerlifter Adeline Dumapong bagged a bronze. This year, six Filipino para-athletes (so far) hope to end the medal drought. Spurred on by the Philippines’ amazing run of four podium finishers at the recent Olympics, our para-athletes are more than ready and are up for the challenge. Get to know them below!

Allain Ganapin – Para-Taekwondo

Ganapin is the first Filipino Paralympian for Taekwondo, a sport slated to debut this year. World Taekwondo sent the bi-partite invite to the Philippine Paralympic Committee in early June after Ganapin snagged bronze at the Asian Taekwondo Paralympic Games in Amman, Jordan. He will be competing in the men’s K44 – 75kg division, a category that “includes athletes with unilateral arm amputation (or equivalent loss of function), or loss of toes which impact the ability to lift the heel properly,” according to the International Paralympic Committee.

 


Jerrold Mangliwan – Para-Athletics

Mangliwan is a veteran Para Games athlete who won his fair share of medals in the past. He competes for wheelchair racing with a T52 classification — “athletes use their shoulder, elbow and wrist muscles for wheelchair propulsion. Muscle power in the trunk is typically absent.” He secured his spot for Tokyo after clocking in 1 minute and 2.17 seconds at the 400m T52 wheelchair race at the 2021 World Para Athletics Grand Prix held at Nottwil, Switzerland. The previous Paralympic standard was minute and 3.27 seconds.

He took home gold medals for the 100m and 200m T52 race and silver for the 400m T52 race at the 2015 ASEAN Para Games. Mangliwan also competed at the Rio 2016 Para Games.

 

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Jeanette Aceveda – Para-Athletics

Discus thrower Aceveda also qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics. She is under the T11 and F11 classification for visual impairment. Aceveda also secured her slot through bipartite commission invitation, an invite given to para-athletes “who were not given a chance to formally qualify for the Paralympics using other qualification methods due to ‘extraordinary circumstances.'”

 

Ernie Gawilan – Para-Swimming

Gawilan is the first Filipino Para-athlete to secure his spot at the Tokyo Paralympics after bagging a bronze medal at the World Para Swimming World Series in Berlin, Germany. The swimmer is the most bemedalled para athlete in the country. He has three bronze medals at the 2014 Asian Para Games, two golds and one silver at the 2015 ASEAN Para Games, and three gold and two silver at the 2018 Asian Para Games. And that’s apart from smashing swimming records left and right. We’re excited to see Gawilan in action this year!

 

Gary Bejino – Para-Swimming

Bejino is expected to compete in the men’s 400m freestyle S6, 200m individual medley SM6, 100m breaststroke SB, and 50m butterfly S6. Previously, he took home a gold and a silver medal at the 2017 ASEAN Para Games and a silver and two gold medals at the 2018 Asian Para Games.

 

Achelle Guion – Para-Powerlifting

Veteran powerlifter Guion is scheduled to compete for the women’s 45kg division at the Tokyo Paralympics. This will be her second Paralympics. The 49-year-old Guion made her debut Games at the 2012 London Paralympics where she finished sixth out of nine. She also bagged silver medals at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Para Games and the 2017 World Para Powerlifting Championships.

 

When will the Tokyo Paralympic Games begin?

Tune in to the Tokyo Paralympics from August 24 to September 5, 2021. From our delegates, wheelchair racer Mangliwan will carry the Philippine flag during the opening ceremony. Swimmer Gawilan will do the same for the closing ceremony.

 

Additional monetary support for our athletes

The Philippine Sports Commission recently added P100k to each Paralympian’s travel allowance. That makes the total allowance amount to P150k for every athlete and coach. “If you’re enjoying the game, your game becomes better as well,” said PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez.

And when one of them bags a medal, monetary awards await. Republic Act 10699 mandates that Paralympic gold, silver, and bronze medalists will receive P5 million, P2.5 million, and P1.5 million respectively. On top of that bounty, the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation pledged to match the same incentive for every win. Any of our Filipino Paralympian can pocket as high as P10 million if they go home with gold.

 

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Kyzia spends most of her time capturing the world around her through photos, paragraphs, and playlists. She is constantly on the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and a great paperback thriller to pair with it.


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