BOXER Eumir Marcial and swimmer Kayla Sanchez saw their Paris Olympics medal hopes dashed early Wednesday (31 July 2024).

Marcial experienced one of the most significant upsets in the boxing event as the 2021 Tokyo bronze medalist lost to Olympic debutant Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan in the round of 16 at North Paris Arena.

The 20-year-old Khabibullaev surprised Marcial in the first two rounds with superior technical boxing, leading on points six minutes into the bout.

Despite Marcial’s efforts to turn the tide in Round 3, hoping for a knockout, he could not overcome Khabibullaev’s lead. Although Marcial impressed three judges in the final round, Khabibullaev secured a unanimous decision victory.

Judge Shawn Reese scored the bout 30-27, while Bachir Abbar, Holger Kussmaul, Jeffery Verhoeven, and Atarbayar Byambabayar each scored it 29-28 in favor of Khabibullaev.

Marcial, who had a first-round bye, later revealed on Facebook that he sustained an injury two weeks prior, hindering his training and affecting his mental strength and performance.

“I am devastated and cannot explain my loss,” he wrote on Facebook. “It’s a difficult place to be in; no one really prepares to lose. But as I said, there are no excuses. It has always been my dream to win the gold medal at the Olympics, not just for myself and my family, but especially for the Philippines.”

Shortly after Marcial’s bout, Sanchez also failed to advance past the semifinals in the women’s 100-meter freestyle at Paris La Defense Arena.

Sanchez finished seventh in Heat 2 of the semifinals and 15th overall, missing the top 8 cutoff with a time of 54.21 seconds. This was slightly slower than the new national record of 53.65 seconds she set in the preliminaries on Tuesday night.

World record holder Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden leads the finalists, finishing third in Heat 2 with 52.87 seconds, behind Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan (52.75) and China’s Yang Junxuan (52.81).