Paris 2024: Kalinga pride Hergie Bacyadan to bring honor to her family, tribe in Olympics

2024 Paris Olympic Games-bound Hergie Bacyadan. Photo from Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News.

MANILA — Hergie Bacyadan is one of the five Filipinos who are set to represent the country in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games' boxing competitions.

The 29-year-old, Tabuk, Kalinga native booked a ticket into this year's summer games by defeating Venezuela's Maryelis Yriza at the World Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament last June.

READ: Hergie Bacyadan punches ticket to Paris Olympics

However, Bacyadan revealed that there was a point wherein she contemplated ending the chase of her Olympic dream.

"Yung naging journey ko naman po, since nag start kami from Australia, Spain, hanggang sa Italy, parang mas lamang pa yun eh. Lamang yung doubt ko, yung pressure, kasi first time ko makaramdam ng ganito, yung 'di ka makatulog sa gabi kasi nga may iniisip kang mga tao na nasa likod mo," she said last June. 

"Sabi ko nung natalo ako [sa unang qualifiers], 'di ko alam kung itutuloy ko pa yung second world qualifiers kasi na dismaya na ako sa sarili ko eh."

This was not the first time that Hergie Bacyadan of taking a pause.

"Umalis ako nung 2022, sabi ko wala na, let go ko na," said Bacyadan, who BACK then represented the Philippines in Wushu and Vovinam tournaments.

Outside boxing, Hergie won Vovinam silver in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games and eventually gold in the 2023 Vovinam World Championships. Before this, she even started her career with the Philippine wushu team and won silver medals in the 2017 Sanda Asian Cup and the World Wushu Championships.

"Umalis din ako sa team kasi ang dami kong iniisip. Parang nawala ako ng halos dalawang taon din. Pero sabi ko plano talaga ni Lord na bumalik ako. Kasi noon wala na akong plano eh, na parang hindi na para sa akin 'to," said Bacyadan.

But upon deciding to return to the ring, Bacyadan initially fell short of clinching an Olympic slot after her defeat in March's first Olympic qualifier in Italy. 

However, despite the loss, she opted to keep her head up and instead bank on her family and her tribe to keep pushing forward.

READ: Carlo Paalam, Hergie Bacyadan back in PH after qualifying for Olympics

"Ang daming doubt kasi nung time na yun. Pero may mga tao na may tiwala sa akin. Nung sinabi ng magulang ko, nung kapatid ko, at nung tribo ko sa Kalinga na i-push ko lang yung sarili ko, at sa tulong ng coaches, ko, sila yung reason kung paano ko malagpasan yung qualifying," Bacyadan recalled.

"Pinush ko lang yung sarili ko at nag focus lang ako, at yun yung tinrabaho ko nung time na yun," she said.

Still, despite overcoming the odds and finally being able to call herself an Olympian, Bacyadan is not content with just merely being able to fly to Paris and compete in the games.

"Nung nag qualify na ako, sabi ko tatrabahuhin ko na ng husto. Pupunta ako ng Paris na wala akong doubt, at na kumpleto na ako," the boxer stressed.

And she is also doing this to repay the trust that her family and the Kalinga people gave her during her lowest moments.

"Ang motivation ko yung family ko, tribo ko sa Kalinga, at yung mga taong nagtitiwala rin sa akin na kaya kong mag medal dito sa Paris," she said.