BEIJING—The girl in Athens is a grown woman now, but she will be carrying a familiar burden Friday as she tries to single-handedly rescue the Philippines’ dying campaign, or at least give it a decent burial, in the homestretch of the 29th Olympic Games here.

Tougher and more mature. That’s how Marie Antoinette Rivero has been described by the longtime leader and patron of the sport taekwondo, Robert Aventajado, who four years ago watched the then 16-year-old pick up the Philippine banner in the tail-end of the 2004 Athens Olympiad.

Rivero now finds herself in the same situation, but she will be carrying a heavier load. She is up against a formidable opponent, Croatia’s Sandra Saric, when she makes her debut at the University of Science and Technology-Beijing Gymnasium at 10 a.m.

In Athens, the then high school teener from St. Paul’s College-Pasig was the last man standing for the Philippine delegation when she won her first two matches—against Vanina Sanchez Beron of Argentina and Charmie Sober of the Netherlands—and came within one win of clinching the silver medal.

But then, in the next round, she ran into the local Greek heroine, Elisavet Mystakidou, and the wildly cheering hometown crowd and lost a close match. She went on to fight in the repechage for the bronze medal with an injury she kept to herself and lost to South Korea’s Hwang Kyung-seon.

“Few people realize that she’s just a girl and she was under such tremendous pressure to win,” Aventajado said after her gallant stand in Athens. But she’s a different person now.

“She’s more mature now. And a lot tougher,” Aventajado said Thursday, the morning after the country’s other taekwondo hope and Athens veteran, Tshomlee Go, went out in defeat without even getting a chance to fight in the repechage stages.

A tentative Go fought an unremarkable fight and bowed to Australia’s Ryan Carneli, 1-0, in the round of 16 of the -58 kg class.

“Toni (Rivero’s nickname) has matured a lot since Athens. She has gained so much experience from international competitions. The exposure and her training have really toughened her up,” he said.

As it literally rained again on Beijing’s parade Thursday, Filipino sports officials hoped that the 20-year-old Rivero would take the Philippine campaign out of the gloom and darkness of what is turning out to be one of the worst Olympic disasters for the Philippines.

Not since the Munich Olympics in 1972 has the Philippines been shut out so badly in the Games.

Rivero will try to change things in a last-gasp effort for the Filipinos. But she will be facing a tougher opponent in the first round. An Athens veteran like her, Saric has also matured a lot in four years.

The 28-year old Croat from Zagreb was eliminated in the first round in Athens, but she has since bounced back. She won the bronze in the welterweight (63-67 kg) of the world championship in 2005 in Madrid and 2007 here in Beijing.

She capped her pre-Olympic preparation by winning the middleweight title (67-72 kg) at the European championship earlier this year in Rome.

While Rivero is four years younger, she will be giving away two inches in height. She is 5 feet 8 inches while her Croatian opponent is 5-10.

Rivero’s Athens tormentors are also in Beijing. Mystakidou is not on the same draw of the 16-woman field. But Hwang will be her next opponent if she hurdles Saric in the first round.

Rivero wants to dominate her division just this once, if only to turn around what had been a disastrous fortnight for Philippine sports in Beijing.