Aira Villegas receives bronze medal in Olympics debut

Bronze medalist of Philippines’ Aira Villegas poses during a medals ceremony for the women’s 50 kg final boxing match at the Paris Olympics 2024, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

MANILA, Philippines— Team Philippines’ Aira Villegas on Saturday officially received the newest addition to her growing hardware: a Paris Olympics 2024 women’s boxing bronze medal.

Villegas was formally awarded with the podium finish medal at Roland-Garros Stadium after the finalé of the women’s 50kg boxing final. She shared the bronze with Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay.

Kyzaibay shared the same fate as Villegas who lost to the semifinals. The Kazakh bet lost to China’s Yu Wu, who went on to win the gold.

Villegas, meanwhile, succumbed to eventual silver medalist Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey in the semis.

Silver medalist, from left, Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu, gold medalist China’s Wu Yu, bronze medalists, Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay and Philippines’ Aira Villegas pose during a medals ceremony for the women’s 50 kg final boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Before the Filipino slugger dropped in the semifinals, though, she worked her way to make her Olympic debut as successful as it can be.

In the Round of 32, Villegas easily disposed of Morocco’s Yasmine Mouttaki with a unanimous decision victory.

Villegas notched another unanimous decision in the Round of 16 at the expense of Algeria’s Roumaysa Boualam.

She scored her toughest victory in the semifinals against France’s home bet Wassila Lkhadiri where she eked out a split decision victory, 3-2.

After her elimination at the hands of Cakiroglu, Villegas expressed her intent to rejoin the Olympics in 2028 to achieve her dream of hearing the national anthem of the Philippines play.

“I have a dream that, before I retire, I hear the national anthem of our country in the Olympic itself,” said Villegas.