Camille Naredo

Team Philippines during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand. POC Media

Team Philippines during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.

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2025 Southeast Asian Games

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1766990482338SEAG 2025 Opening Ceremony - Bryan Bagunas, Alex Eala-1887.JPG" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Team Philippines during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand. POC Media" width="960"/>Team Philippines during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand. POC Media</div>MANILA -- Expectations are high for Filipino athletes in 2026, after concluding the past year with a relatively strong campaign in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham &quot;Bambol&quot; Tolentino was all praises for Team Philippines, especially the athletes who delivered in sports that are part of the Olympic program.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2025/12/29/breakthroughs-returns-historic-feats-how-ph-sports-unfolded-in-2025-0800">Breakthroughs, returns, historic feats: How PH sports unfolded in 2025</a></div>According to an analysis of the SEA Games by a Vietnamese online platform, 70% of the Philippines&#x27; 50 gold medals from the biennial meet came from Olympic sports, tying the country with Singapore.Of Singapore&#x27;s 52 gold medals, 20 came from swimming -- an Olympic centerpiece. The Philippines, for its part, also shone in Olympic sports: athletics (five golds), swimming (three), gymnastics (three ), triathlon (three) and modern pentathlon (three).Filipino athletes also made their mark in the Olympic sports of women’s football, men’s baseball, tennis through Alex Eala, beach volleyball, basketball (2), judo (2), skateboarding (2), softball (2), taekwondo (2), rowing (1), sailing (1), short-track speed skating (1), weightlifting (1) and wrestling (1). &quot;Those are what mattered the most, the gold medals from Olympic sports,&quot; said Tolentino in a statement, Monday. Aside from the SEA Games, Filipino athletes also brought home seven gold medals from the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, and two silvers and two bronzes in the Chengdu World Games. The men&#x27;s curling team also won a historic gold medal in the 9th Asian Winter Games in February 2025.Tolentino expects Filipino athletes to again carry the flag in 2026, where they will take part in several international events.&quot;There will be more competitions overseas and more historic achievements to come for Team Philippines in 2026,&quot; the POC chief said.Among the events scheduled for 2026 are: the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics from February 6 to 22; Sanya Asian Beach Games from April 22 to 30 in China; and the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games in Japan from September 19 to October 4.&quot;It will be challenging this time as we will be competing in three Asian multi-sports events and we have also the Milano Winter Games and then the Youth Olympic Games,&quot; said Tolentino. &quot;Our athletes and national sports associations are improving every year and I’m so happy to see that.&quot;There will also be the Dakar Youth Olympic Games from October 31 to November 13, and the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

Expectations are high for Filipino athletes in 2026, after concluding the past year with a relatively strong campaign in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

Expectations are high for Filipino athletes in 2026, after concluding the past year with a relatively strong campaign in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

POC chief expects 'more historic achievements' from Pinoy athletes in 2026

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POC chief expects 'more historic achievements' from Pinoy athletes in 2026

ABS-CBN News

Published December 29, 2025 02:42 PM PHT

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Philippine Olympic Committee

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