Team Philippines gymnast Levi Jung-Ruivivar during training ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024 gymnastics competition. –Levi Jung-Ruivivar Instagram
PARIS—One of the things that kept Levi Jung-Ruivivar in touch with her Filipino side is her love for gymnastics.
After all, her dad, Anthony, was a member of the US junior gymnastics squad and represents the Filipino side of Jung-Ruivivar.
“Growing up, Filipino culture has been a very important part of my life and I am beyond grateful to connect to my Filipino culture through my love of gymnastics,” the Hawaii-born teenager wrote on her social media account.
Now she gets to do the Philippines a huge favor.
Fittingly, in the French capital known as the City of Light, Jung-Ruivivar will be one of three female gymnasts out to emerge of the huge shadow cast by two-time world champion Carlos Yulo as they plunge into action in the women’s all-around competition in the Paris Olympics on Sunday here.
The 18-year-old Jung-Ruivivar is the youngest of the trio, which will also include Aleah Finnegan and Emma Malabuyo.
“I have never fought for something so hard in my life,” Malabuyo wrote on her social media account, adding that while the prospects of competing against the world’s best under the brightest sporting lights was daunting, “I am more terrified of not trying at all.”
The three gymnasts will highlight a day when Team Philippines will rely on female athletes to shoulder its hopes in the Summer Games.
The Philippines is one of the countries that helped make the Paris Games more gender-equal in terms of male and female representation. Team Philippines has 15 female athletes and seven males.
Greatest battle
Jung-Ruivivar won the silver medal in the uneven bars during the World Cup Series in Doha, Qatar, last April, bolstering her credentials heading into Paris.
“Being able to compete for the Philippines fills me with so much pride, appreciation and joy,” she said.
Malabuyo had to go the extra mile for an Olympic berth, and now she’s ready for what could be her greatest battle in a young decorated career.
She finally booked her Paris ticket after finishing third in the all-around event of the Asian Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Finnegan, 21, has been a member of the PH team since the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games two years ago.
Finnegan became the first female Filipino gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since 1964. Two more Filipino women open their own bids also on Sunday, this time in fencing, although one will be representing a different federation.
Former eight-time national champion Maxine Esteban, who switched the Ivory Coast federation after she was unceremoniously dropped by the Philippine national team, competes in the women’s foil competition main draw.
The Filipino-Ivorian Esteban battles Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Pauline Ranvier, the hometown bet who is seeded 13th in the round-of-32.
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Samantha Catantan, meanwhile, will go through a wild-card fence-off against Brazil’s World no. 240 Mariana Pistoia. Catantan is favored in that duel and if form holds, she will advance to the main draw against World No. 2 Arianna Errigo. —WITH REPORTS FROM OLYMPICS DISPATCH
Follow Inquirer Sports’ special coverage of the Paris Olympics 2024.