By Maxine Agno

The Philippines had a spectacular start at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand, with athletes “built for greatness, bound for gold,” delivering powerful performances across multiple sports to capture 15 gold, 23 silver and 52 bronze medals — a total of 90 medals — as of Sunday, December 14. 

The Games, which officially opened on December 9 and will run until December 20, saw the country’s flag borne by volleyball star Bryan Bagunas and tennis prodigy Alex Eala during the opening ceremony at the Rajamangala Stadium.

Justin Kobe Macario secured the Philippines’ first gold medal of the Games by winning the men’s taekwondo freestyle poomsae event.

The women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team of Olympian Kayla Sanchez, Heather White, Chloe Isleta, and Xiandi Chua also secured the gold medal with a dominant time of 3:44.26, finishing more than two seconds ahead of silver medalist Singapore.

Building on the momentum, Geli Bulaong defeated her Indonesian opponent in the finals of the demo sport mixed martial arts (MMA) women’s modern -60kg, claiming the second gold medal for the team.

The Filipino roar swarmed Bangkok as Kimberly Custodio dominated her Thai counterpart to secure gold in the women’s -49kg ju-jitsu ne-waza. Moreover, Dean Roxas added another gold to the Philippines’ tally in the men’s -85kg ju-jitsu ne-waza, expressing gratitude for the opportunity to represent the country.

Aleah Finnegan, the Paris 2024 Olympian, then clinched gymnastics’ first gold medal in the women’s vault with a score of 13.400 and a bronze medal in the women’s balance beam with a score of 12.467.

Furthermore, Yman Xavier Baluyo debuted in the SEA Games with a silver finish in the men’s 69kg ju-jitsu ne-waza after falling to Vietnam’s Dinh Tung Dang in the gold medal match.

On the other hand, the Philippine men’s baseball team secured their fourth SEA Games baseball title in history by defeating host Thailand, 5–3, in the gold medal match.

Tachiana Mangin, the first Filipina to win gold at the World Junior Taekwondo Championships last year, won her first-ever SEA Games gold in the women’s -49kg kyorugi. Meanwhile, Laila Delo’s effort secured her a silver medal in the women’s taekwondo -73kg event, marking an upgrade from her bronze medal won in 2023.

Shining in gold, John Ivan Cruz shared the podium with Malaysia’s Muhammad Aimy after displaying strong artistry in the men’s gymnastics vault.

Kayla Sanchez then increased her medal haul by notching her first individual gold in the women’s 100m freestyle, adding to her relay gold and two earlier silver medals in the 200m freestyle.and 50m backstroke.

John Cabang Tolentino chased another gold for the Philippines, winning the men’s 110m hurdles with a time of 13.66 seconds. Similarly, Hokett Delos Santos topped six contenders in the men’s decathlon, securing another gold for Team Philippines with 6,917 points.

In addition, the Philippines captured silvers and bronzes across various events and divisions in athletics, bicycle motocross (BMX), chess, cricket, cycling, extreme sports, figure skating, gymnastics, hockey 5s, ju-jitsu, judo, karate, petanque, sepak takraw, shotgun, snooker, swimming, and taekwondo.

Notably, the delegation is at its largest, with around 1,600 athletes and officials, since the Philippines joined the league.