Victoria Manalo Draves Is First Asian-American U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist

Screenshot from the International Olympic Committee via the Seattle Globalist

Earlier this month, memorial stories started running which honored the passing of the purported first Asian American Olympic gold medalist. Sammy Lee of California was revered for his feats in diving.

Articles reflected on Lee’s admirable determination during the 1948 London games to challenge the discriminatory sports world as a Korean American. He won his first gold medal in Aug. 5, 1948, and a bronze at the same Olympics. He won another gold at the 1952 games in Helsinki.

Unfortunately, declarations of his groundbreaking feat for Asian Americans became a matter — once again — of a man getting credit for something a woman did.

The first Asian American U.S. Olympic gold medalist was a Filipina American woman. Her name was Victoria Manalo Draves. Manalo Draves (Draves was her married name) was the first woman diver to win two golds in the same Olympics, and she won her first gold medal in springboard diving on Aug. 3, 1948 — two days before Lee won his first gold medal in platform diving.

“Obviously it’s just wrong”, said Shannon Urabe, the visitor services assistant manager at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, located in Seattle. “We shouldn’t assume it’s men who achieve in sports first. It’s especially hard to find female Asian American heroes.”  

Vicki Manalo Draves, who died in 2010, went through the same trials of racial segregation as Lee did, with the additional difficulty of facing bias against women. At one point, Manalo Draves was forced to use her British mother’s maiden name to gain access to swimming facilities that barred people of color.

The lack of celebration and recognition of women in the sports world is sadly commonplace. Many media outlets accepted that a man was first in an achievement and this misinformation spread.  

News story from The Seattle Globalist

Women in Sport: Filipina Weightlifter Takes Bronze in Qatar

Photo courtesy of Elbert Atilano via Facebook (Manila Bulletin)

Filipina weightlifter Kristel Iso Macrohon bagged three bronze medals in the 4th Qatar International Cup and 2016 Asian Cup at the Doha Intercontinental Hotel in Doha City, Friday (December 16).

Macrohon, a resident of Pasobolong, Zamboanga City, registered 80kg. in the snatch, and 110kg. in the clean and jerk for a total of lift of 190kg. in the women’s +75kg. category.

The gold medal went to Kazakhstan while Iran pocketed the silver medal.

Macrohon, who is a student at the Zamboanga Institute of Aviation and Technology, trains at the Universidad de Zamboanga Weightlifting Center headed by veteran coach Elbert Atilano.

Atilano, who accompanied Macrohon in Qatar, also trained 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz.

News story from Philippine News Agency via The Manila Bulletin

Filipina Women "Amazing Race" Season 5 Title Winners

Image Credit: The Filipino Times

Filipina women Maggie Wilson-Consunji (Filipino-British) and Parul Shah (Filipino-Indian) won the Amazing Race Asia Season 5 that ran across 12 cities in six countries.

After a tightly-fought final race that ended in Bali, Indonesia, Maggie and Parul were declared the winners of the US$100,000 cash prize, beating by just a few minutes another pair of beauty queens — Chloe Chen and Lee Yvonne from Malaysia, reported GMA News.

The only other Filipino team in the race — fan favorites Eric Tai, a member of the Philippine rugby team Volcanoes, and his wife Rona Samson — came in third place.

When the Filipino teams reportedly met the press two months ago during the premiere of the Amazing Race Season 5, Maggie mentioned that their motivation in joining the race was to help Parul’s family as their father had suffered a stroke.

In a post-race interview during the finale, Parul reportedly said, “It was such a relief to win because the money can help my family, especially my Dad who suffered a stroke.”

“He taught me to never give up in life and I did this to prove that no matter what life throws at you, never give up,” she added.

In a news bulletin released right after the airing of the finale on AXN Channel, Virginia Lim, Senior Vice President and Head of Content, Production and Marketing, reportedly said, “It was our toughest race yet with several surprising twists and some extremely challenging conditions.”

“All 22 racers should be super proud of what they achieved during their journey. Their determination, camaraderie and sense of humor ensured that The Amazing Race Asia was the top program in its time slot among all English general entertainment channels in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines,” Lim was quoted in GMA News.

News story from The Filipino Times

Cebuana Marathon Runner Mary Joy Tabal Qualifies for Olympics in Rio de Janeiro

MILO Marathon Queen Mary Joy Tabal wins first place in the 39th National MILO Marathon in General Santos City. Photo credit: MILO Philippines.

A Filipina MILO marathon champion has earned a ticket to the prestigious Olympic Games in Rio de Jainero in August this year after beating the Olympic qualifying time in the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon in Canada earlier this May.

According to the press statement of MILO Philippines, Mary Joy Tabal clocked in with the time of 2 hours, 43 minutes and 29 seconds to surpass the 2:45:00 Olympic qualifying time for the women’s marathon.

”We’d like to share the good news with you that reigning MILO Marathon Queen Mary Joy Tabal just secured a slot to play in the Rio Olympics when she finished the race in the recently concluded Ottawa Marathon in Canada,” said Andrea Alido, account executive of Strategic Edge, Inc., MILO Philippines’ PR partner.

After falling short in her stint at the Boston Marathon last April, Tabal unleashed an impressive comeback in Ottawa’s prestigious footrace.

Known as the Great White North’s largest and fastest marathon, the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon is one of two International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Gold Label races in Canada, attracting a world contingent of about 7,000 runners every year because of its flat and fast race course.

The 26-year-old Cebuana gained a substantial lead against other competitors, and was able to rank 5th in the female age group, 8th in the overall elite female category and 38th in the overall elite male and female category, out of a total of 4,416 elite participants.

Read the rest of the story here.
News story from Manila Bulletin.

Filipina MMA Fighter Ana Julaton (U.S. FWN100™ '09): Fighting Words for Filipina Women in Combat Sports

 Dare not mispronounce Ana Julaton’s last name lest you be told off.

The Filipino-American, an established combat sports athlete offered her advice to aspiring Filipina fighters who look up to her, stressing they must stay true to themselves, keep going, and never let anyone get away with mispronouncing their names.

“For all the Filipinas worldwide, follow your dreams, be who you are, be proud of who you are, be proud of your color, be proud of your nose, be proud of your roots, be proud of your name. Have everyone say your name correctly,” the 35-year old said at the media workouts at KMA Fitness Gym in Makati, Philippines.

Julaton shared how she had to tell people off in the past when they kept pronouncing her last name as "Ju-ley-shun."

“Just as long as you believe – and everyone is gonna tell you that you can’t do it – but you have to be the one. Because when you’re deep down in a fight and there’s no one out there to pick you up, you’re gonna be the one that has to deal with that battle.”

The former boxing world champion turned MMA prizefighter was in Manila for her fight against Irina Mazepa at ONE FC's event "Spirit of Champions" at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Julaton, who has a 2-1 MMA career record and returns to the cage after a year of absence, has been an inspiration for Filipino women in combat sports ever since her boxing days, where “The Hurricane” become WBO Super Bantamweight World Champion and IBA Super Bantamweight World Champion.

Though she credits opportunities she’s gotten to Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao having paved the way before her, Julaton still had to break barriers on her own.

“I feel like the world develops social norms. There are certain things that women are supposed to do, things that men are supposed to do,” she explained.

“For me, growing up in the United States as a FilAm, trying to do boxing – a male-dominated sport in an arena where there wasn’t a lot of Filipinos at the time, where people were saying my name incorrectly; a lot of promoters, a lot of people they won’t look at me in the face, they won’t give me that respect because they think ‘oh you’re small, oh what are you, are you Chinese?’ so I had to let my presence be known.”

“For all the young ladies out there in the Philippines, no matter what anyone says, never let that be a limit to what you want to do,” she said further.

“Have passion, have belief, and surround yourself with the right people. People who are passionate as you are and people who will help and support you.”

News story from The Rappler.

Bronze EVENT: October 10, Saturday: Plaque Unveiling for Victoria Manalo Draves, First Asian-American Woman to Win an Olympic Medal in 1948

Join us this Saturday, October 10th, 10:00 AM at Victoria Manalo Draves Park (Folsom & 7th) in San Francisco in commemoration of San Francisco native Victoria Manalo Draves, the first Asian-American olympian who won two gold medals back in 1948 for diving.

FWN is a proud sponsor of the Bronze Plaque Unveiling Reception for Victoria Manalo Draves. At the South of Market, the park is on Folsom Street, between 6th & 7th Streets.

Women in Sports: 17 Year Old Pinay Mayumi Pacheco Drives with a Force for Liverpool FC

Mayumi Pacheco (Photo credit: @LFCLADIESFANS)

There is a young Filipina making waves in the Football Association’s Women’s Super League, the highest league of women’s football in England, and she is 17-year-old Mayumi “Maz” Pacheco.

The young defender has already represented England in the Women’s Under-16s and Under-17s levels. She was also called up for the England Under-19s team, but due to her first team commitment, she has to miss the camps and was instead told by the coach to be physically and mentally prepared for next year’s Under 19s competition.

More recently, she has made her debut with the first team of Liverpool Ladies, following her stint as part of Liverpool Ladies’ Under-17 FA Cup-winning team.

Pacheco identifies herself as Liverpool-born and bred, supporting the club while growing up and going to as many of the club’s matches as she can. Of Liverpool’s past and present players, she counts Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Jordan Henderson, and Philippe Coutinho as her favorites. She is also impressed with Joe Gomez who, at 18 years old, made his way into the men’s first team at an early age—a story that she can definitely relate to.

The young defender took time from her busy schedule to answer questions on life as a top-flight football player in England and balancing this with normal teenager activities.

Read more here.
News story courtesy of Interaksyon

Afril Bernardino leads Perlas Pilipinas to FIBA Asia Women's Championship

HOTO from FIBA.COM

WUHAN, China—Afril Ber-nardino fired a tournament-high 32 points as Perlas Pilipinas downed India, 82-76, in the relegation playoff, earning the Filipinos a ticket to Fiba Asia Women’s Championship’s elite Level I competition.

“We have arrived,” said Philippines coach Patrick Aquino.

“From a women’s basketball point of view in the Philippines, this ranks as good as Gilas qualifying (for the 2014 Fiba World Cup),” he said.

Bernardino was stuck for words after the win.

“I just don’t know what to say,” said the teenage collegian. “Wow! We made history.

“I’m very happy for the win. We didn’t come with a lot of expectations. We just wanted to show that we (Filipino women) can play good basketball. Qualifying is icing on the cake.”

The Philippines led only by two, 39-37, at halftime, but scored the first 13 points of the second half on the way to victory.

“The coach told us just to relax and put our heads down,” said Shelley Gupilan, a catalyst in that run. “He told us that they (India) were under pressure. He asked us to just cut down the mistakes.”

“It’s time to invest in Philippine women’s basketball,” said Aquino.

“We are thankful for all the support from SBP (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas) and other sponsors. I think we have returned their faith with our performance.

“Now the time has to come to put together a proper program for women’s basketball development in the Philippines,” he said.   Fiba.com

Read the original article here.
News story courtesy of TheInquirer.net