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Levi Ruivivar clarifies absence during heroes' parade for Olympians

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Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

One of the country&#x27;s bets in women&#x27;s artistic gymnastics at the Paris Olympics has cleared the air on her absence during the Heroes&#x27; Grand Homecoming Parade held last Wednesday.In a post on Instagram, Filipina gymnast Levi Ruivivar bared the reason why she was not present at the parade for the country&#x27;s Olympians.&quot;I truly wish from the bottom of my heart that I could have attended and been part of this event, but unfortunately I was never informed that I was invited or presented with the opportunity to go,&quot; she wrote in her post.Ruivivar narrated the events leading up to the parade which was held on August 13.&quot;I heard from a member of the Olympic delegation that some sort of event was taking place in Manila to meet the President. On August 7th, I sent a WhatsApp text message to my NSA head (see next slide) stating that I had heard that there was an upcoming event to meet President Bongbong Marcos and I asked what the event entailed,&quot; she said.&quot;On August 8th, I received a message stating that it was only for medalists Carlos and the two bronze medalists, the boxers. I responded inquiring if that was in fact, correct because I never received a response or any further information,&quot; Ruivivar added.<div> </div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-6" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/C-0l7JfyxkH/embed/captioned/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fnews-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A6%2C%22os%22%3A7723786.700000048%2C%22ls%22%3A107167.30000007153%2C%22le%22%3A107538.39999997616%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="1062" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-6" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div> </div>The gymnast said she was shocked to see the Filipino Olympians except for her, Aleah Finnegan and Emma <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Malabuyo at the parade and meeting the President.Pole vaulter EJ Obiena, weightlifter Vanessa Sarno and boxer Eumir Marcial were also not present due to prior commitments.&quot;I was really hurt considering this was once in a lifetime opportunity I missed out on. I wanted to be part of the celebration with my fellow Olympians and to share in the excitement of the success of the Olympics with my country, the Philippines. I truly wish I could have gone considering I sacrificed endlessly to perform for my country and to make everyone proud,&quot; Ruivivar wrote.The gymnast clarified she had no obligations in the United States and there was nothing preventing her from attending the parade and dinner in Malacañang.Ruivivar ended her post expressing her gratitude for all the support she has received from Filipinos.&quot;I am truly excited to continue competing for the Philippines, and I look forward to taking every opportunity to come to the Philippines and hopefully inspire the new generation of Filipina gymnasts that are the future,&quot; she said.The absence of the three gymnasts were questioned by some netizens.Finnegan and Malabuyo responded on social media, saying they wanted to go but were not informed of the event.They echoed this statement on the sidelines of their free gymnastics training clinic held in Intramuros, Manila over the weekend.&quot;I think the issue has been resolved. We really wanted to be a part of the parade but the main reason we came to the Philippines is just to be helping the girls and coaching at this clinic and doing the best we can do for the younger generations and inspiring them. We just we’re not given information,&quot; Malabuyo said.&quot;We&#x27;re trying to figure out if we can do a meet and greet with fans. But we&#x27;re feeling your love and support,&quot; she added.Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion also spoke up on the matter on Saturday.&quot;I’m sorry we did not get advise, earlier advises about you. You should have joined all our events. You should have been there. You are Olympians but me, we ourselves, we didn’t know about it. You would’ve known about it if we knew about it. So I’m telling you right now, you would’ve known about it. Like now Senate gave us the letter way way advance so we know you’re all invited,&quot; Carrion said.&quot;Nobody knew even me I didn’t know from, going from Paris we didn’t know we were going straight to Malacanang. POC [Philippine Olympic Committee] Chairman just told us by the way we’re going here then we’re going to go there. I was worried. Because we didn’t know the plans. You know we like to see the plans. Of course everything is offered to them last minute,&quot; she added.Carrion said it would have been a proud moment for her to have all of her gymnasts at the events.&quot;Had I known of course I would be so proud of them having to be with me. Not only one, I will have four. Why not? If we had known earlier, if all of us have known earlier we would tell them to come because they’re coming anyway. Levi I don’t know if she can come. But they [<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Finnegan and Malabuyo] can come earlier what’s a few days earlier,&quot; she explained.<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Finnegan and Malabuyo will be in the country until this weekend as they have to fly back to the United Stated to begin their senior year in college.When asked about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the two said they will take it year by year, manage their health and focus on upcoming competitions first.

One of the country's bets in women's artistic gymnastics at the Paris Olympics has cleared the air on her absence during the Heroes' Grand Homecoming Parade held last Wednesday.

One of the country's bets in women's artistic gymnastics at the Paris Olympics has cleared the air on her absence during the Heroes' Grand Homecoming Parade held last Wednesday.