Paris Olympics: Motivated Aira Villegas gets rid of ghost of past

The Philippines’ Aira Villegas, right, celebrates after defeating France’s Wassila Lkhadiri in their women’s 50kg quarterfinal boxing match at the Paris Olympics 2024, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

MANILA, Philippines—In February of 2023, Aira Villegas absorbed a disheartening quarterfinal loss in the 74th Strandja Cup in Bulgaria at the hands of France’s Wassila Lkhadiri.

On Sunday morning (Manila time), Villegas stared at the same ghost in almost the same situation in another quarterfinal bout but this time on the biggest stage of them all at the Paris Olympics 2024 in France.

And this time, Villegas did not let the ghost of her past haunt her any longer.

READ: Aira Villegas assured of medal after close win over French bet

“Coach asked me, ‘Are you going to allow her to take this?’ I told him, ‘No, this is mine,’” said an emotional Villegas in Filipino in an interview with One Sports.

“Last year, she beat me. This year is supposed to be my comeback. February 2023, she was the one who beat me so I told myself I need to get this in that last round.”

Determined to redeem herself, Villegas eked out a 3-2 split decision win over the home bet in front of a hostile crowd.

However, despite the crowd’s unwavering support for Lkhadiri and resounding jeers for Villegas, the latter wasn’t fazed.

In fact, it motivated her even more.

READ: Paris Olympics: Aira Villegas’ birthday wish? A medal for Team Philippines

“I didn’t care that they were cheering for her, it just boosted me up even more. I needed to silence that crowd.”

“I keep saying, ‘this is mine’ and my coaches heard me. It’s okay if she hits me, all I needed was a clear punch.”

With the victory, Villegas assured herself of a medal finish, upping Team Philippines’ medal count to two just hours after Carlos Yulo’s historic gold medal in the men’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise.

However, it wasn’t all joys for Villegas even after securing a medal and exacting revenge over her French foe.

READ: Carlo Paalam misses out on Paris Olympics medal after quarterfinal exit

Also just hours prior to her win, her compatriot and fellow boxer Carlo Paalam was shown the door in the men’s 57kg quarterfinal.

Villegas dedicated her win not just to Paalam but also to other Filipino boxers Eumir Marcial and Hergie Bacyadan, who had bowed out of the Paris Games.

“I also dedicate this win to my teammates, especially Eumir, Hergie and Carlo earlier. I got sad and said I needed to make it a motivation to win for them.”

Villegas goes for a spot in the gold medal round when she faces Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu on Wednesday at 4:18 a.m.