Five Filipino para-athletes have qualified for the Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Champion para-swimmers Ernie Gawilan and Gary Bejino, Taekwondo jin Allain Ganapin, para-trackster Jerrold Mangliwan, and discus thrower Jeanette Aceveda have been announced by the Philippine Paralympics Committee and the Philippine Olympics Committee to comprise the nation’s delegation to the Tokyo Paralympics Games slated for August 24 to September 5, 2021.
Here is the full list of Filipino Paralympians who have formalized their entries to the international multi-sport event for differently-abled athletes:
Ernie Gawilan (Swimming)
Ernie Gawilan, the first Filipino qualifier to the Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games, formalized his entry after bagging the bronze medal in the Internationale Deutsche Meisterschaften (IDM) Berlin Para Swimming World Series in Berlin, Germany.
The 30-year-old from Davao who was born with underdeveloped extremities is one of the most decorated para-athletes in the Philippines.
He is a 2016 Rio Paralympian, a triple Gold medalist at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia, and the 2019 World Para Swimming Silver medalist in London.
Gary Bejino (Swimmer)
Gary Bejino joins fellow swimmer Ernie Gawilan in Tokyo after earning a bipartite slot in para-swimming.
The 25-year-old para-swimmer of the Philippine National Team who lost his arm and his leg at an early age due to electrical shock is a 2017 Kuala Lumpur ASEAN gold medalist.
Bejino bagged a silver and two bronze medals in the 2018 Asian Para Games.
Allain Ganapin (Taekwondo)
Allain Ganapin is heading to Tokyo by making history as the first Filipino Taekwondo para-athlete in the Paralympics.
Ganapin earlier secured a bronze medal in the Asian Qualification Tournament for the Tokyo Paralympic Games held in Amman, Jordan.
Jerrold Mangliwan (Athletics)
Filipino para-trackster and veteran Paralympian Jerrold Mangliwan made the cut for the Tokyo Paralympics after surpassing the Paralympic standard of one minute and 3.27 seconds in the 400-meter T52 wheelchair race of the 2021 World Para Athletics Grand Prix held at Nottwil, Switzerland.
Mangliwan, who makes his second straight Paralympics appearance after the 2016 Rio Games, won gold medals and a silver in the 2015 ASEAN Para Games.
The 41-year-old Jerrold Mangliwan hails from Kalinga, Apayao who acquired paraplegia from polio started his wheelchair racing career in 2009.
Jeanette Aceveda (Athletics)
Discus thrower Jeanette Aceveda, an Asian Para Games silver medalist, qualified to the Paralympics through the bipartite commission.
The Philippine national delegation will have a total of 19 representatives to the Tokyo Olympics, including pole vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnast Carlos Yulo, and golfer Yuka Saso.
SEND WELL WISHES in the comments below to the Philippines’ top para-athletes who have qualified for the Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
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