History made in Nagoya

Now that the hostilities are over, it’s time to review the Philippine delegation’s performance at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. These are the numbers that point to historic milestones.

29 – total medals, the most since 42 in 1966 or 60 years ago.

9 – silver medals, the most since 1970 or 56 years ago.

16 – sports that delivered medals (10 of which will be in the 2028 LA Olympic calendar) compared to 11 in the previous edition.

1 – Asian Games record set by pole vaulter EJ Obiena in clearing 5.91m.

5 – national swimming records set by Kayla Sanchez in 50m backstroke, 50m and 100m freestyle, Gian Santos in 200m freestyle and Xiandi Chua in 200m individual medley.

2 – national athletics records set in women’s 4x100m relay (43.60) and mixed 4x400m relay (3:19.68).

72 – years before John Cabang Tolentino became the first Filipino male hurdler to land an Asiad podium finish.

9 – weightlifting records set by Ian de los Santos (70kg), Rosegie Ramos (53kg) and Kristel Macrohon (69kg). De los Santos established a national record in snatch and world junior records in clean and jerk and total lift. Ramos set national records in snatch, clean and jerk and total lift while Macrohon marked records in snatch, clean and jerk and total lift.

19 – near-podium finishers, a win away from bagging bronze. The list includes men’s 3x3 U23 basketball, boxers Nesthy Petecio and Jumilardo Ogayre, Carlos Yulo in parallel bars and swimmer Sanchez in 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle.

3 – countries that ranked higher in medal standings despite collecting less total medals: No. 9 Bahrain (22 total medals), No. 12 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (27) and No. 13 United Arab Emirates (12).

7 – Southeast Asian countries ranked lower in medal standings: No. 20 Vietnam, No. 21 Singapore, No. 24 Myanmar, No. 35 Cambodia, No. 37 Brunei and Laos, No Ranking Timor-Leste (without medal). The Philippines wound up 17th. Ranked higher were No. 7 Thailand, No. 11 Malaysia and No. 16 Indonesia.

3 – sports that claimed first-ever Asian Games silvers (archery, women’s 3x3 U23 basketball, sepak takraw).

6 – sports that claimed first-ever Asian Games medals (MMA, 3x3 basketball, beach volleyball, soft tennis, surfing, e-sports).

10 – Philippine participation in 20 Asian Games with less than four gold medals. This edition’s four gold medals were the most in 60 years, equaling the output in 1978, 1986, 2006, 2018 and 2022.