Joanie Delgaco, of the Philippines, crosses the finish line in the women’s single scull rowing repechage at the Paris Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Although a medal in the Paris Olympics is already out of the question, Joanie Delgaco could burst into a territory no Filipino rower—male or female—has ever reached before, and that is to be in the world’s top 20.
The 26-year-old multiple Southeast Asian (SEA) Games medalist moved forward to achieving the goal despite placing fifth out of six rowers in her semifinal C/D race of the women’s single sculls classification phase after timing eight minutes and 00.18 seconds for the 2,000-meter race.
But with another race, the final D which will be against Turkiye’s Elis Ozbay, Peru’s Adriana Sanguineti, Paraguay’s Alejandra Alderete, Iran’s Fatemeh Mojallaltopraghghale and Vietnam’s Thi Hue Pham, Delgaco can claim a slot in the top 20 with at least a runner-up finish.
Despite bombing out of medal contention on Tuesday by bringing up the tail in her quarterfinal race, Delgaco finishing ahead of Mojallaltopraghghale and Pham on Saturday will give the game Filipino No. 1 ranking in the SEA region.
Delgaco beat Mojallaltopraghghale on Wednesday after the Iranian clocked 8:06.23 in their semifinal cluster.Cris Nievarez made great strides during the 2021 Tokyo Games by finishing fifth in the final D of the men’s single sculls.
Aside from Nievarez and Delgaco, only two other Filipino rowers reached the Olympics—Edgardo Maerina (1988 Seoul) and Benjamin Tolentino (2000 Sydney).