Francisco just misses out on a medal in Asiad skateboard tilt

c/o POC/PSC Media

Jericho “Kiko” Francisco Jr. may have missed the podium, but the veteran Filipino-American skateboarder walked away from the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with something he valued just as much—a competition he genuinely enjoyed.

Francisco finished fourth in the Men’s Park Final with 84.41 points, coming just 1.62 points short of the bronze medal.

Japan’s Shiji Gunji took bronze with 86.03, while Chinese Taipei’s Ku Yong-yan won silver with 87.33. Japan’s Izuru Nagahara claimed gold with 88.96.

For Francisco, however, the final result was only part of the story.

After entering the competition with limited preparation and virtually no expectations, the 24-year-old said he was simply grateful to have enjoyed every moment on the course.

“I am beyond happy with my performance. I could not be any happier. Dude, I came into this with literally no expectations.”

Francisco revealed that he had only accumulated around 10 hours of practice, including his preparation for the Asian Games.

“I’ve put in maybe 10 hours of practice, including the practice time to prepare for this. So I was not expecting much.”

Despite the limited preparation, Francisco delivered a competitive performance in the final. More importantly, he said he was finally able to approach a major competition without the pressure and nervousness that had accompanied him throughout much of his career.

“Everything I did out there on that course was something I wanted to do, and it felt amazing.”

Francisco said that feeling was particularly meaningful after years of competing at the highest level.

“For the past 10 years, I’m always nervous and I’m always trying to do stuff I don’t want to do. And I really had a lot of free range competition. I had a lot of fun. Completely. No regrets.”

That freedom allowed Francisco to enjoy what he described as one of the most enjoyable competitions of his career.

“I had a great time. This is probably one of the most fun competitions I’ve had in the past 10 years probably.”

Francisco’s Asian Games campaign also carried a special significance because of his connection to one of the Philippines’ youngest skateboarding stars, Mazel Paris.

Francisco has been coaching skateboarding for the past four years through First Class Skate, his coaching business, and Paris was among his earliest students.

“Mazel was actually one of my second students ever, and I’ve been a professional skateboard coach for the past four years now.”

Seeing both himself and his student compete on the Asian Games stage was a moment of pride for Francisco.

“To see that we are competing at the top level of skateboarding, it’s really incredible.”

Paris went on to finish fifth in the Women’s Park Final, recording a best score of 80.65 and coming within 2.21 points of the bronze medal.

Francisco has also worked with other young Filipino skateboarders, including Elizabeth Amador, as he continues to build his role beyond his own competitive career.

His work as a coach has become an important part of his vision for the future of Philippine skateboarding.

With his Asian Games campaign now over, Francisco’s attention turns back home and toward First Class Skate.

Rather than focusing solely on his own competitive career, he wants to use his experience to help young skateboarders reach the international stage.

“Something that’s next for me is to really elevate my business back home, which is a skateboard coaching business called First Class Skate.”

His goal is to create more opportunities for young athletes to experience the same level of competition he has encountered throughout his career.

“I really want to take kids all over the world to the next level just so they can compete at this type of stage.”

Francisco’s competitive résumé gives him plenty of experience to draw from.

A two-time SEA Games gold medalist in men’s park skateboarding, he won at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines and again at the 2025 SEA Games in Bangkok, where he posted a winning score of 90.68.

He also became the lone Filipino park skateboarder to advance to the second phase of the 2024 Paris Olympic Qualification System, competing in the Olympic qualification events in Dubai and Budapest.

Wagdos withdraws from Asiad marathon

Philippine marathon record holder Sonny Wagdos has withdrawn from the Asian Games marathon scheduled for tomorrow after falling ill ahead of the competition.

In a Facebook post, Wagdos revealed that he has been battling a high fever, forcing him to pull out of the event.

“I’m backing out of the marathon category due to high fever. I don’t know why, maybe it’s hard to adapt to the weather from hot to cold. Sayang talaga preparation namin,” Wagdos said.

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association Secretary General Jasper Tanhueco shared that Wagdos had already been dealing with illness and taking medication even before arriving in Nagoya.

“He’s feeling better now, but we consulted with Sonny and Coach Vertek. Siyempre, priority natin ang well-being ng athlete. Marathon ‘yun at hindi biro, especially given his condition now,” Tanhueco said.

The 32-year-old Philippine Air Force sergeant made history earlier this year at the Tokyo Marathon, where he clocked 2:14:32 to break the 22-year-old Philippine marathon record previously held by his coach, two-time Olympian Eduardo ‘Vertek’ Buenavista.

Wagdos was expected to lead the country’s marathon campaign alongside fellow Filipino runner Richard Salano.

Despite missing the marathon, Wagdos’ Asian Games stint may not be over. He is still expected to compete in the men’s 5,000-meter event on September 29, provided he has fully recovered from his illness.

SiPons stumble against Kazakhstan, await opponent in knockout rounds

For Sisi Rondina and the Alas Pilipinas women’s beach volleyball team, the loss to Kazakhstan in Pool E was a missed opportunity.

Alas dropped the opening set, 21-17, but bounced back dominantly to level the playing field with a 21-10 win in the second. Kazakhstan however held on in the deciding set, to take the match at the final score of 15-10.

“We missed the opportunity, ’yan lang masasabi ko. Sayang pero brighter side pa rin kami,” Rondina said.

Despite the setback, Rondina stressed that the team remains hopeful knowing there is still a long way to go in the competition.

“Positive pa rin kami sa mga upcoming days and games namin. Nakakalungkot but at the same time nakaka-excite kung ano pa yung susunod na mangyari,” she said. “We need to prepare for the next games. Ang haba pa ng liga.”

The focus now is on recovery, making adjustments and cleaning up their execution before their next match on Sept. 28. Their opponent will be determined on Sept. 27, after all the matches have been completed.

“Kailangan namin aralin and maging maayos pa sa mga galaw namin. And babawi!!! Kahit anong mangyari. Rest and recover and banat ulit!!!”

Paris earns fifth place in Asiad skateboarding

c/o POC/PSC Media

Twelve-year-old Philippine skateboarding prodigy and Thailand Sea Games champion Mazel Paris Alegado put up a gallant fight against older competition, finishing fifth overall in the Women’s Park Final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.  

Being one of the youngest competitors in the championship field, Paris continually improved throughout the morning, posting her best mark of 80.65 points on her fourth and final run.

This came after solid showings of 70.81 in Run 1 and 80.19 in Run 2, followed by a minor slip in Run 3 (1.67).   Despite her impressive execution, she was narrowly bumped down to fifth by China's Cao Shiqi, who is also 12 years old. Cao snatched fourth place by landing an 81.23 on her own final run.  

The podium was ultimately dominated by older, highly experienced skaters. Japan's 15-year-old Mizuho Hasegawa clinched the gold medal with a massive top score of 94.03 during her second run.

Chinese Taipei's 14-year-old Lin Yi-fan took home the silver with an 85.15 on her first attempt, while 20-year-old Japanese star Misugu Okamoto secured the bronze with an 82.86 on her second run.

Paris, Francisco make it to Asiad skate finals

Mazel Paris and Jericho Francisco advanced to the final rounds of their respective skateboarding events at the 20th Asian Games at Aichi Sky Expo on Thursday.

Paris, 12, finished fourth overall in the women’s park skateboarding preliminaries after scoring 73.93 points in Heat 2. Japan’s Mizuho Hasegawa topped the heat with 89.15 points.

“It was super fun. I landed my runs, and that was my goal,” Paris said. “For tomorrow, I’m gonna pray to land my runs and to have fun.”

In the men’s park skateboarding event, Francisco also secured fourth place overall with 80.64 points.

“I had a really, really good time,” he said. “I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve that I’m gonna pull out in practice, and then just have fun and enjoy.”

The finals are set for Friday, with the women’s park skateboarding event scheduled for 9 a.m. Manila time, followed by the men’s event at 11:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Amador finished fourth in Heat 2 with 59.99 points.

Abdilla-Francisco tandem eliminated from Asian Men's Beach Volleyball

c/o POC/PSC Media

The Alas Pilipinas Men couldn’t wear down Oman in a closely-fought second set to absorb a 14-21, 26-28 defeat—the second in Pool A—to crash out of the men’s beach volleyball competition in the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games on Thursday at the Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court.

Lerry Francisco and Alnakran Abadilla’s loss ended their competitive season, but assistant coach Leonardo Gomes saw a bright spot in Francisco, who has only been playing beach volleyball for two and a half years.

“It was a very disappointing result for us. We had a chance to close out the second set, but we didn’t take advantage of our counterattack opportunities.” Gomes said. “After that, the set kept going point by point, and unfortunately, we couldn’t finish it.”

Gomes said Francico’s only in his  fourth tournament but showed he could compete at the Asian Games level, playing with courage and confidence.

“Unfortunately, the result didn’t come, but if there is one positive thing we can take from this match, it is Lerry’s performance and his continued development as a beach volleyball player,” Gomes said.

“At the end of the day, experience matters a lot, especially in important moments like the ones we had today,” he said.

The 34th SEA Games will now be the next major target and for Gomes, the team must reassess its direction, identify its mistakes and learn from the Asian Games.

He remains hopeful given the group’s young age and the potential he sees from the team.

Philippines earn sixth place finish in Asiad Men's Team Gymnastics

c/o POC/PSC Media

 

Team Philippines finished sixth in the men's artistic gymnastics team final of the 20th Asian Games on Wednesday at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium Rainbow Hall in Japan.

Filipino gymnasts double Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, FIG World Cup gold medalist Eldrew Yulo, Southeast Asian Games medalists Miguel Besana and Justine Ace De Leon as well as Zachary Nunez scored a total of 227.359 points.

"For me, personally, malayo pa talaga tayo. Siguro bilang team, kung i-goal natin manalo, sobrang layo pa talaga. But at the same time nakakatuwa po kasi first time po yata na makapasok ng finals sa Asian Games bilang Team Philippines po," the elder Yulo shares.

"So with that result po, sobrang ako natutuwa doon. And looking back sa mga nangyari, it's really a good result already for us, Filipinos po. So, ayun po, natutuwa ako sa performance namin today. [We] really did our best and nag-all out talaga lahat. Pagod na pagod na talaga eh. Wala na din maibigay yung iba. Pero lumaban tayo ng buong puso," he added.

Yulo once again topped the floor exercise with 14.266 points, while bouncing back in the vault where he scored 14.566 points.

"For me, stepping stone ko para sa akin yun na mas magperform well for tomorrow and sa susunod na bukas. And today, yung vault ko. Super comfortable ako today. And relaxed lang talaga yung pakiramdam ko kanina. So it went really, really well in my opinion. And ayun yung kailangan ko i-replicate sa susunod na bukas," he said.

The Olympic gold medalist and his brother Eldrew will now turn their focus to the men's floor exercise final slated to take place on Thursday, as they aim to strike it big time for Team Philippines supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission.

"Gusto ko talaga i-showcase yung pagiging artistic ng gymnastic ko and yung elegance po na ang tina-target ko talaga na ma-perform po sa nakakakabang sitwasyon. Pero I really wanted to be really graceful tomorrow and focus talaga sa mas magandang performance more than the result po," Carlos said.

"Sa floor, sobra akong naramdaman yung floor mismo. Like, parang nag-connect kami ng floor. Well, even though na my last pass is not that good or di siya yung expect ko, but alam ko na kung ano yung feeling or alam ko na kung ano yung next move ko for tomorrow. alam ko na kung ano yung i-change ko and kung paano ko siya i-change," Eldrew shared.

Carlos also qualified for the vault and parallel bars finals, while Eldrew will likewise compete in the horizontal bar finals.

Miguel Besana also advanced to the vault finals, the same event he won gold in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.