ESPN, the biggest US-based sports news outlet, featured the female gymnast representatives of the Philippines to the 2024 Paris Olympics in its platform dedicated to women’s sports.
ESPNw on Monday posted snaps of gymnasts Levi Jung-Ruivivar, Emma Malabuyo, and Aleah Finnegan on Instagram during the Games with the caption: “Making the Philippines proud.”
It was accompanied by a Philippine flag emoji.
The posts also included a quote card of Aleah’s words from a Washington Post interview about representing the country.
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The Instagram post has earned over 9,000 likes and several comments, including from the athletes themselves.
Emma responded with emojis of a face-holding-back-tears and hearts.
Levi, meanwhile, said that she was “honored” to have been featured in the news outlet.
Other Filipinos were elated that a post was dedicated to them.
“AND WE MADE IT TO ESPNW, AAAAAA!!! Thank you for representing PH women’s gymnastics pretty well, Ladies! Laban, Pilipinas!” an Instagram user wrote in the comments.
The Filipino-American athletes Emma, Levi, and Aleah have ended their historic Olympic campaign when they missed the cutoff for the event finals in the women’s artistic gymnastics on July 29 (Philippine time).
Nevertheless, their representation of the country was the first in 60 years since Maria-Luisa Floro and Evelyn Magluyan raised the Philippine flag as female gymnasts in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
In the Washington Post feature, Emma, Levi and Aleah had hoped that their performances would help gymnastics grow as a sport in the Philippines.
“And for gymnasts in the Philippines, a country that has gone so long without any female gymnasts reaching this level, Finnegan said, ‘I hope it’ll unlock a dream,'” the report said.
Meanwhile, the fate of the country having an Olympic gymnastics medal lies with Carlos Yulo who will vie for a podium finish on July 31 in the all-around, floor exercise on August 3, and vault on August 4.
