Pawie and the Olympians

There’s this ritual on TOPS Usapang Sports wherein they start the episode with a group photo with the invited guests but unfortunately, yours truly didn’t make the group picture because I took my sweet time, so, moral of the story is, be punctual.

Anyway, we still made it to the session where we were graced by the presence of former olympians Akiko Thompson-Guevara and Janice Lagman-Lizardo and 2019 SEA Games Duathlon bronze medalist, Pawie Fornea, who told us her incredible story of how she made it to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland getting a double degree then graduating with honours.

Thompson-Guevara is the President of the Philippine Olympians Association, an organization that represents former Philippine olympians. Lagman-Lizardo is the Head Coach of the UP Tae Kwon Do - Poomsae team.

To sort of summarize Pawie Fornea’s story, she went through a lot just to qualify for the national team. She started out with only 500 pesos in her pocket which she used to join a race where she needed to win the race to win the prize money that will help her.

Fast forward, she spent a few years at the US Naval Academy where she graduated with a double degree and with honours to boot. She trained for both duathlon and triathlon at the academy where the sports facilities are world class.

Her story is the stuff that movies are made of. It’s an inspiring story. Please look her up on Google and be ready and prepared to be motivated.