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Catantan on meeting Esteban in Paris: 'She's always gonna be my teammate'

Sports

Catantan on meeting Esteban in Paris: 'She's always gonna be my teammate'

By Mark Rey Montejo

At A Glance

Sam Catantan and Maxine Esteban have come a long way in their respective fencing careers.

Sam Catantan and Maxine Esteban have come a long way in their respective fencing careers.

Olympic fencers Sam Catantan, left, and Maxine Esteban

But one thing is for sure: their friendship has remained strong despite having to represent different federations in the Paris Olympics.

Team PH representative Catantan and now Fil-Ivorian Esteban had the chance to exchange pleasantries before making their debuts in the grandest sporting stage.

“Before competing, we saw each other and we were able to say good luck to one another,” said Catantan.

The Penn State accountancy graduate said she always sees Esteban as her teammate and that she is happy they were able to qualify for the Paris Games.

“And she's my teammate and she's always going to be my teammate and I'm very happy that I was in the Olympics with her,” she added.

Representing Ivory Coast, Esteban earned her Paris spot last March in a US tournament while Catantan booked her Olympic ticket after a dramatic win over Kazakh Sofiya Aktayeva, 15-14, last April, breaking the three-decade drought of Filipino fencing in the quadrennial meet.

The two had been teammates in multiple local and international competitions since they were teenagers.

Related Tags

Maxine Esteban Sam Catantan Paris 2024

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