The Philippines’ Bianca Isabel Pagdanganan putts during round 4 of the womenís golf individual stroke play of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, south-west of Paris, on August 10, 2024. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)
It is, perhaps by far, the cruelest finish in all of sports.
It doesn’t matter by how slim you missed out on the podium—a microfraction of a second, a millimeter, a stroke.
History books have a habit of scrubbing off the greatness of those who end up fourth.
READ: Bianca Pagdanganan relishes ‘great Olympic experience’ in Paris
You could see it in the way Bianca Pagdanganan needed to compose herself before trying to put in words the heroic actions that were silenced by the position she officially occupied at the end of the women’s golf tournament of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I really wanted it,” the 26-year-old Pagdanganan told Olympic broadcaster One Sports after taming her tears on late Saturday evening (Manila time) at Le Golf National.
“I wanted our [country’s] name up there.”
It is in the nature of golf that its participants, no matter how great, lose more than they win. Pagdanganan knows this. But when you have a foot on the podium, only to get that step yanked by a birdie putt on the 18th hole, no golfer’s heart can be so calloused as to not feel the pain.
“I wanted to be up there [on the podium],” she said.
That much was clear.
Pagdanganan was practically out of the running, with bogeys on 10 and 13 dropping her to three-under in a tournament where a chase pack was trying to put the squeeze on New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who led by as many as five strokes in the final round before finishing at 10-under to win the gold by two.
But then, Pagdanganan decided this was not how she wanted her Olympic stint to end.
She took back a shot with a birdie on 14 and then hit back-to-back birdies heading home to launch herself at 6-under for the tournament.
READ: Pagdanganan, Ardina lead PH to impressive finish in Olympic golf
“I gave [it my] all. [I took advantage of] all the opportunities that I had; I saved a lot of shots. And I’m just really proud of how I performed today,” said Pagdanganan, one of the longest hitters in the professional ranks.
“And there’s no other way to put it. I wanted it so bad. And I really did my best, especially, like you said, my last stretch,” she added. “Those were such tough holes, especially hole No. 17. Oh my goodness. Today was the first day I hit the fairway. And I birdied it. So that kind of gave me a boost. But, yeah, I gave it my all.”
After signing for a final-round 68, Pagdanganan waited in the clubhouse sitting at third place behind a still-playing Ko and German bet Esther Henseleit, whose 66 in the fourth round propelled her 11 places up for a guaranteed silver with a tournament 280 total.
One by one, the other golfers forced their way into a playoff for the bronze medal, with Pagdanganan at the forefront.
But China’s Lin Xiyu Janet, who went after an eagle to try to force her way to the silver, tapped in for birdie and finished at 281 to rip away the bronze.
Pagdanganan finished on top of a logjam at fourth place.
Obiena, too
EJ Obiena of the Philippines misses his final attempt in the men’s pole vault final at the Paris Olympics 2024, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
She’s not the only Team Philippines member to go through the same agony.
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena also finished fourth in this year’s Summer Games—and also by the closest way possible.
“It’s painful. I missed a medal by one jump and it wasn’t far on all my attempts at [5.95 meters],” Obiena said.
READ: EJ Obiena narrowly misses pole vault medal in Paris Olympics
Obiena finished out of the podium with Emmanouil Karalis of Greece taking the bronze after clearing the same height as the Filipino—but on one less attempt.
“I missed one attempt,” Obiena said. “Sports is beautiful but also brutal.”
That’s why Pagdanganan felt so beaten up in the end.
But perhaps there’s a better way to remember her fourth-place finish. And that’s to fully understand why she made that one last push for a medal.
“I want [the world] to know that we’re great athletes,” she said.
“And this isn’t just for golf, you know, we’ve excelled in other sports. And I think it’s a great wake-up call, you know, for people back home that we can excel in sports. So, if we could just find someone to support, you know, that would be great.”
Pagdanganan and Obiena may not have gotten the medals they wanted. But an entire country remained thankful for getting the heroes it needed. INQ