Tabal receives OLY title

CEBU, Philippines — After reaping accolades from different institutions, Cebuana Olympian Mary Joy Tabal has received another priceless recognition after she was granted the "OLY" post-nominal designation by the World Olympians Association (WOA).

The 26-year-old Tabal, on her social media post, proudly shared the copy of the WOA certificate honoring her achievements as sign of confirmation for her application to be among of the elite Olympians to carry such initials.  

In an interview, the Southeast Asian Games gold medalist told The Freeman that she felt very proud and once proved herself that anything with hard work, your efforts will flourish.   

 "For me, these are all products of my hard work in achieving my goals and dreams. It wasn't made overnight and it takes a lot of sacrifices to be here," said the country's undisputed marathon queen. "And receiving such award and recognition truly inspire me to continue dreaming for more and to inspire more individuals especially the Filipinos.     

Tabal shared that the WOA certificate was emailed to her on December 20 of last year, just two days after she sent her application to the organization. She admitted that it was just yesterday that she noticed the e-mail confirmation that was sent to her. 

Nevertheless, upon reading the good news, Tabal immediately updated her account's profile with the initials after her name, "Mary Joy Tabal Oly."

According to the WOA website, OLY serves "as a symbolic recognition of an Olympian's status in society, the OLY lettering will help to promote an Olympian's societal, charitable and community-based work, acting as a unifying reminder of their achievements and of their responsibility to embody the values of Olympism in every day life."

The first Olympian to officially receive the initials was WOA President Joel Bouzou. He was a French athlete and a world champion in modern pentathlon in 1987.