Toni Rivero, my champion

THE PHILIPPINES HAS WON THE OVER ALL CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE SOUTH EAST ASIAN GAMES!


OOH YEAH!!

MABUHAY ANG PINOY!

the taekwando jin on top is mary antoinette rivero of the Philippines who beat Indonesia's Voppy Trismawanty, ending the third set with a 5-1 win and bagging a gold for the philippines. lupet!

now, for those who do not know her here are a few articles that might help you out....

A Habit of Kicking

Posted:11:16 AM (Manila Time) Jul. 18, 2004

AT 16, any girl would be preoccupied with boy bands, crushes, makeup and clothes. For Antoinette "Toni" Rivero, however, there is little time to spend on such matters. Instead of applying foundation on her face, she is applying a wicked kick on her opponent's mug. Sweet sixteen has never been more formidable.

As the youngest member of the three-man Philippine tae kwon do team to the Athens Olympics, Toni is determined to do something yet to be done. "My goal is to win the gold medal," says Toni.

The quest for that gold medal remains unfulfilled since the country joined the Olympics in 1924. Yet if there's any Pinoy can end the drought, Toni might be the one best equipped to do so.

Like many prodigies, Toni's exposure to sports came early. At 4, Toni tagged along with her brothers Mark and JR to their tae kwon do classes at Virra Mall. She first had to be satisfied watching from the sidelines, as she was too young to participate. "She would just sit there and watch intently for two hours," says Toni's mom Marilou.

There was a pair of 7-year-old boys who enrolled in the class. Since they needed another person of relatively the same size to spar against, the instructor asked Toni to spar against the two newcomers. Toni whipped both of them.

Shocked, yet encouraged by Toni's performance, the instructors invited the girl to regular training even if she was not yet 5, the minimum age requirement.As an 11-year-old, she was beating up 18-year old males.

During the 1st Asian Juniors Tae kwon do Championship, she earned a bronze medal. The next year, she won the silver.

In 2001, Toni made history as the youngest member of the national team at only 13.She bagged the gold in the US Open Last year, Toni displayed tremendous courage as she claimed her biggest victory yet. Taking an early lead in gold medal match in featherweight division of the SEA Games in Vietnam, Toni suddenly felt her right leg cramp up. She could have panicked, but kept her composure and played smart. Playing through pain, Toni survived and went home with the gold.

Like so many athletes, Toni's success came with a price. Juggling school and sports proved tough, and her grades suffered at St. Paul's College Pasig. Her parents decided to pull her out of St. Paul's and enroll her in a home-study program in order not to disrupt her training. "You can always go back to school. The chance to play in the Olympics happens every so often and you're not sure if you'll have another opportunity," remarks Marilou.

Selected by the Philippine Tae kwon do Association for a possible slot in Athens, Toni was in Thailand for the Asian Olympic Qualifier. Toni qualified for the Olympics as she made it to the gold medal match. Though a swollen hand forced her to withdraw, Toni had exceeded expectations and achieved one of her goals.

"I couldn't describe how happy I was," Toni recalls. Part of the reason for Toni's achievements has been her supportive family. Marilou wakes up Toni and JR, who's also a national team member, at 5 a.m. during weekdays then drives them from their house in Pasig to the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila to make the 6 a.m. training session. Mother then brings her kids back to the house and cooks lunch for them. She then drives them back to Rizal for sparing sessions that last until late in the evening. Marilou and her pilot husband Manuel will be in Athens to lend her support to Toni.

Since she spends most of her time at the gym or at home, Toni admitted that she sometimes misses doing the usual things that teenagers do such as go to the movies or the mall with friends, but she understands that she has a mission to accomplish.

With the Olympics weeks away, Toni's training sessions have gone from twice to thrice a day. She's been quartered along with the two other Olympic-bound tae kwon do jins at an undisclosed location. "I thought that everything was happening so fast, but my mom said everything happens for a reason," disclosed Toni.

Toni and the rest of the country might soon find out that reason next month in Athens

and so that what happened at the olympics? read on please....

HURTING TONI RIVERO COMES OUT WINNER DESPITE LOSS
ATHENS

August 30, 2004 (STAR) By Lito A. Tacujan

She fought through the pain and breaks and against a hostile crowd and came so close to winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal but she failed despite a courageous stand.
But Marie Antoinette Rivero left the luxurious blue mat of the Faliro Hall Saturday evening more a victor, particularly to a bunch of Filipino supporters who cheered her on in four rugged matches in the women’s under 67 kg.

The 16-year-old Rivero came within two wins of breaking the country’s 80-year gold medal drought in the Games but she dropped a 2-3 decision to Greece’s Elizavet Mystakidou in the semifinals before a roaring Greek crowd.

"She wanted to do more for the country, she was so close. She’s very young but showed a big fighting heart," said Robert Aventajado, president of the Philippine Taekwondo Association.
Had Rivero not lost to the Greek ,she would have won a silver outright and fought for the gold. She later bowed to Korean Hwang Kyung Sun, 2-6, in the repechage and failed to salvage a bronze.

The other Filipino jin — Donald Geisler III — also missed a crack at the bronze in the men’s under 80kg, dislocating his left ankle and two tendons in the repechage against Tunisia’s Hichem Hamdouni and had to be carried out of the hall on a stretcher.

Geisler, a repeat Olympian, earlier absorbed a verdict by superiority to Turkey’s Bahri Tanrikulu, who later took the silver. But he came out full of fight against Hamdouni, holding his own in a 7-all tie before banging his ankle to the charging Tunisian’s knee.

He crumpled to the mat and doubled up in pain. He struggled to his feet and tried to fight on after getting treatment from Korean coach Kim Tae Hyun but the referee stopped the fight. He was later brought to the Athletes’ Village polyclinic, went through X-ray, CT-Scan and Sonogram.

He now walks on crutches with his injured ankle fitted with a protective boot.
Rivero, the youngest in the RP team first triumphed by superiority over Argentina’s Vanina Beron Sanchez and took a decisive 10-4 win over the Netherlands Charmie Sobers for the semifinals that sent the nation back home all abuzz about a possible Olympic medal.

But Rivero suffered a bruised left thigh in the first encounter, injured her left hand against the Dutch bet and sustained yet another hand injury versus Mystakidou in the semis that had the crowd roaring "Hellas, Hellas‚" (the Greek word for Greece).

"It hurts. I know I could have won, but the breaks went against me. Lahat ng tama niya sa akin sa likod ng hips binilang samantalang ang mga hits ko walang count," she said.

Mystakidou loomed as the Greeks’ lone hope for a gold following the shock loss of sports icon Michailis Mouroutsos, the Sydney Games titlist, in the under 58 kg and evidently put the pressures on the judges as they came in droves for her duel against Rivero.

"Ako ang binawian, gutom sila sa panalo. I know I can beat her," she said.

Mystakidou, who was not impressive in her first two matches, raced to a two-to-nothing lead in the first two rounds with a side kick and turning back kick. Rivero, carrying the fight throughout, rallied in the third round as she nailed two offensive kicks but the former world No. 3 scored on a counter kick and won at 3-2 with one penalty point.

"The Greek showed her a lot of respect. It was low scoring contest and she was calculating and more cautious against Toni than against the Chinese in the final," said Aventajado.
By the time Rivero fought the Korean, she was hurting all over and bucking rush of fatigue. Mystakidou eventually took the silver, losing to world champion Wei Lou in the final while Hwang won the bronze.

The young Pinay jin then left the hall and broke down in tears.

"When she was fighting she looked to me taller and stronger. On the way home to the village I realized she was just a girl," Aventajado said.

Her heartbreaking loss had given her firm resolve to take a shot at the next Olympics. "I’m more determined now to work harder to earn a slot for Beijing."

Overall, the taekwondo jins made an impact on the RP campaign despite failing to medal in their respective events, Aventajado added, noting that Tshomlee Go made a remarkable stand against Spanish former champion Juan Ramos in the under 58 kg while Geisler had lost only on superiority over Tanrikulu before injuring his ankle in the bout versus Hamdouni.
Hamdouni went on to drop his next match to Yossef Karami who won the bronze while American Steven Lopez retained his title in the event.

"I’m proud of these young men and woman representing our country. I’m happy with their performance for it shows we have the materials but not the breaks," he said.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit and PSC chair Eric Buhain also praised Rivero’s stirring performance.

"She fought bravely, she gave her best and there’s nothing we could ask for," said Buhain.
With the setback of the taekwondo jins, Team RP closes yet another fruitless campaign for an Olympic medal, the loss more galling with the successes chalked up by its neighbors Thailand, Indonesia and Chinese-Taipei.

The Thais enjoyed a great Olympics with three golds so far. They have won two in women’s weighlifting and one in boxing with another pug still in contention in the final day, the Taiwanese copped two golds in taekwondo while Indonesia won a gold in men’s badminton through Hidayat Taufik.

AND NOW SHE HAS PROVEN HERSELF WITH ANOTHER GOLD IN THE NEWLY CONCLUDED SEA GAMES. .. GALING! MAYBE NEXT TIME IT WOULD BE A GOLD IN THE OLYPICS NA TALAGA..... WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE NOW WONT WE?