Joanie Delgaco can end up as high as 19th place in the women's single sculls for her already historic Olympic debut.
History still awaits Joanie Delgaco.
Already out of the medal picture, Delgaco could still land in a place where no Filipina rower has ever reached before: finish among the top 20 in the world.
The 26-year-old will race for the final time in the Olympics Games Paris 2024, vying for the 19th-24th places in the Final D of the women’s singles sculls scheduled later at 4:30 p.m. (PH time).
Delgaco started strong in her semifinal C/D race and got as high as third, but couldn’t sustain momentum and dropped to sixth midway through 1000-meter mark of the six-woman race.
She simply refused to finish last and pushed herself in the final 500m to avoid en route to clocking in eight minutes, 0.18 seconds, placing fifth out of six rowers in the 2,000-meter race.
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After the race, Delgaco had no regrets in her efforts and is already looking ahead to a possible return to the Olympic stage.
“Babalik po ako sa susunod [na Olympics],” she told.
[ALSO READ: Paris 2024: With one race left, Joanie Delgaco already looking forward on possible Olympic return]
Delgaco enters her last Paris 2024 bout against Elis Ozbay of Turkey, Adriana Sanguineti of Peru, Alejandra Alderete of Paraguay, Fatemeh Mojallaltopraghghale of Iran, and Thi Hue Pham of Vietnam.
If she finishes ahead of Mojallaltopraghghale and Pham, Delgaco will emerge as the no.1 rower in the Southeast Asian region.
Only Benjamin Tolentino secured a top-20 finish among the other previous rowers that represented the Philippines in the Olympics, finishing 18th in the men’s single sculls back in Sydney 2000.
Among others are Ed Maerina and Cris Nievarez, who competed in the 1988 edition in Seoul and 2020 Tokyo, capped off their respective campaigns placing 22nd and 23rd.