It was a rollercoaster ride for the Filipino athletes before they secured their respective spots at the Paris Games.

And what a reward that awaits them: being an Olympian is an achievement in itself.

Winning a medal, regardless of its color, is totally a bonus, or perhaps the culmination of all the hard work they have poured in their Olympic dreams.

For all the 22 athletes who have qualified, it was, indeed, a sweet journey to the French capital.

Pole vaulter EJ Obiena; boxer Eumir Marcial, and gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan took the early tickets a year ago.

Finnegan, who was the first female Filipina gymnast to compete in the Olympics since 1964, will make her debut in the quadrennial meet.
 

In March this year, boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas followed suit with resounding victories in Busto Arsizio, Italy.

In April, weightlifters Elreen Ando, Vanessa Sarno, and John Febuar Ceniza delivered superb performances while Hidily Diaz-Naranjo, the country's first and only Olympics gold medalist so far, failed to book her spot in the same category as Ando after the Paris organizers scrapped her weight division.

Still, Diaz applauded the future stars in her field, giving them words of encouragement and hoping for another golden moment.

Later that month, three Filipinas shone and secured their tickets in their qualifying tournaments in Qatar, South Korea and UAE. Gymnast Levi Jung-Ruvivar, fencer Sam Catantan (women’s foil) and rower Joanie Delgaco (women’s single sculls) joined the Philippine contingent.

Catantan, 22, erased the 32-year drought for PH fencers after Walter Torres, the PSC commissioner, made his appearance in the 1992 Barcelona Games.

The 26-year-old Delgaco, meanwhile, became the first-ever Filipina rower to earn an Olympic spot.

Girl power continued as another gymnast was added to the team in Emma Malabuyo who won the bronze medal in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in May.

Carlo Paalam and Hergie Bacyadan made one last push to make the boxing team a five-man delegation.

In June, two golfers in Bianca Pagdanganan, who will plunge into her second straight Olympic stint, and Dottie Ardina will battle it out against the world's best at Le Golf National.

Fil-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe is also up for her second Olympic appearance where she aims to bounce back after receiving one of the two continental quotas..
 

National record holders Lauren Hoffman (women’s 400m hurdles)  and John Cabang Tolentino (men’s 110m hurdles) then joined the athletics roster that already has Obiena.

Swimmer Fil-Canadian Kayla Sanchez (women’s 100m freestyle) and Jarod Hatch (men’s 100m butterfly) took their respective slots via universality. Sanchez, though, has pressure on her shoulders with two medals, a silver and bronze, already in her war chest after she represented Canada in Tokyo 2020.