The year 2019 has been a triumphant year for sports in the Philippines for both locally-staged sporting events and regional/international competitions.
GoodNewsPilipinas.com delivered stories of success by individual men and women athletes, sports teams, and the country’s hosting of the region’s biennial meet towards the end of the year.
Here are the 8 Most Followed Sports Stories on GoodNewsPilipinas.com this 2019:
8. CARLOS EDRIEL YULO, Gymnast
The Philippine National Anthem was heard for the first time at the World Gymnastics Championships as Carlos Edriel Yulo won a historic Gold, becoming the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win the WGC. Yulo achieved his feat on October 12 in Stuttgart, Germany.
WATCH: Carlos Yulo is 1st Filipino and Southeast Asian to capture World Gymnastics GOLD
7. 30th SEA GAMES, Philippines – Overall Champions
The Philippines won the overall championship of the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), finishing with a medal tally of 149 golds, 117 silvers, and 119 bronzes in the biggest edition of the SEA Games that featured 56 sports in 530 events held in the Philippines from November 30 to December 11.
Philippines clinch SEA Games overall crown with 149 golds, breaking new records
6. JAMIE LIM, Karate Champion
Jamie Lim captured the gold to lead Karate Pilipinas’ haul of 8 medals at the 2019 Amatör Spor Haftasi Karate Championship in Turkey.
Jamie Lim captures Gold to lead Karate Pilipinas 8-medal haul in Turkey
5. PHILIPPINE DRAGON BOAT TEAM, Champions in Beijing
Team Philippines emerged as champions in the 2019 Beijing International Dragon Boat Invitational Tournament held during China’s Dragon Boat Festival. The Philippine Canoe Kayak Dragon Boat Federation’s Dragon Boat team won in the Open Category in the 500 meters and 250 meters competitions held on June 7.
Team Philippines are champions of Beijing International Dragon Boat Tournament
4. TEEN GYMNASTS, European Gold Medalists
Two teenage Filipina gymnasts together took home five gold medals for the Philippines from their 3-country European campaign as the Philippine National Women’s Rhythmic Gymnastics Team.
Thirteen-year-old Breanna Labadan raised the Philippine flag on top of the podium three times in a row in Europe after capturing the Junior Individual All-Around titles in meets held in Slovakia, Hungary, and Denmark.
Daniela Reggie Dela Pisa of Cebu added two golds to the Philippine campaign after performing impressive routines that clinched the Senior Individual All-Around titles in Slovakia and in Hungary.
Teenage gymnasts from Butuan, Cebu win 5 Golds in victorious 3-country European campaign
3. RICCI RIVERO, college basketball superstar
Rising basketball superstar Ricci Rivero of the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons marked his return to the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) hard court with a sensational one-hand dunk that made national sports headlines and even international sports news as one of the Top 10 Plays for the Night for ESPN Sports Center.
Ricci Rivero’s one-handed dunk was cited by the ESPN Games highlights for September 4 as its 7th Best Play of the Night, the only Philippine and basketball play cited along with baseball, soccer, and tennis matches of the day.
Ricci Rivero’s sensational one-hand dunk for UP Fighting Maroons makes Top 10 plays in U.S. ESPN
2. WE WIN AS ONE, 2019 SEA Games theme recorded by Lea Salonga
Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) athletes and spectators at medal awarding ceremonies of the regional biennial meet heard the voice of Broadway Superstar and Disney Legend, Lea Salonga, as her recording of the 2019 SEA Games theme song “We Win As One” rang through the sports hubs located in Manila, Southern Luzon and La Union, Subic, and at the New Clark City.
The soundtrack of “We Win As One” heralded each announcement of a podium finish at each of the 530 events of the 56 sports in the competition, just before each athlete receives a medal.
Lea Salonga’s “We Win As One” SEA Games theme song inspires athletes in all medal ceremonies
1. NEW CLARK CITY SPORTS COMPLEX, world-class sports facilities
Commanding the top spot on the sports round-up is the story about the New Clark City Sports Complex constructed for the 30th Southeast Asian Games hosted by the Philippines – a glimpse into the country’s latest and much-talked-about Olympic Grade Class 1 Athletic Stadium and Aquatics Center.
New Clark City Athletics Stadium given Olympic Grade Class 1 mark, 1st for PHL
In the Philippines, in Asia, and around the world, the Filipino athletes gave their all to raise the national flag with pride.
SEND congratulations in the comments below to the men and women behind the Top 8 Sports Stories for 2019!
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