Team Philippines gets rousing welcome home

Filipino Olympians receive a warm welcome from fans after the Heroes Parade on August 14 following the Team Philippines’ Paris Olympics campaign. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Deafening cheers, a constant rain of confetti and throngs of merrymakers greeted the athletes who represented the country in the recently concluded Paris Olympics as a grateful nation celebrated their victory with a lively welcome parade on Wednesday afternoon.

Three athletes did not join the welcome parade—pole vaulter EJ Obiena, boxer Eumir Marcial and weightlifter Vanessa Sarno—but their absence did not dampen the enthusiasm of residents and workers in Pasay City and Manila, who braved the afternoon sun and crowds to have a brief glimpse of the Filipino Olympians, led by gold medalist and gymnast Carlos Yulo, and bronze medalists Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas, both boxers.

For two hours from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., the victorious athletes gamely waved and offered swift salutes in response to the crowds that lined the motorcade’s 7-kilometer route from the Aliw Theater in Pasay City to the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

Yulo, the country’s golden boy who took home two gold medals in gymnastics, also posed with his two medals alongside Petecio and Villegas’ own bronze medals.

The ear-splitting shouts and cheers of well-wishers seemed to compete with the steady beat and tunes of a band that accompanied the motorcade. Merrymakers of all ages and occupations resorted to all sorts of gimmicks to catch the Filipino Olympians’ attention—from dancing and mimicking Yulo’s pose at the floor and vault exercises, waving Philippine flags in a show of pride and holding up banners with congratulatory messages, to shouting “Caloy!”, “Yulo!” and “Pilipinas” amid deafening shrieks of giddy fans.

Motorists stopped to take photos and videos of the motorcade or to conduct livestreams, while fire trucks and ambulances along Taft Avenue sent their sirens blazing to honor the nation’s sports heroes.

Helicopters dropped confetti two times during the parade while machines along the road also sent confetti flying into the air.

Other fans—mostly children and youth—climbed up the parade float that the athletes were riding in an attempt to get them to sign their shirts that they took off their backs, a request that the athletes readily granted.