Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medalist Nesthy Petecio earned warm responses from Taiwanese nationals when she posted pictures of her with gold medalist boxer Lin Yu-ting.
The Pinay on August 11 shared snaps of moments before the awarding ceremony, when she, Yu-ting, Poland’s Julia Szeremeta, and Turkiye’s Era Yildiz Kahraman, were sitting together behind the scenes.
“Before awarding! Mga ganap sa likod… ‘di ko alam pano i-explain ‘yung ‘eeyyyy’ sign sa kanila ee…” Nesthy wrote with several laughing-on-the-floor emojis.
The Pinay is known for posing on cameras with the “eyyy” gesture, which resembles the “hand loose” gesture associated with surf culture.
In the Philippines, it recently became popular in which Pinoys would say “Eyyy” with the matching hand gesture.
Its origins can be traced to BINI member Sheena Catacutan‘s interaction with a fan in a meet-and-greet, who told the artist of graduating soon.
“Ga-graduate na ako ng college… naiiyak ako,” the fan said with a chuckle.
“Naiiyak ka? Eyyy ka muna, eyyy!” Sheena responded, and then accompanied it with the now-popular gesture associated with the phrase.
i was already in tears when i told her na ggraduate na ako ng college tapos sabi ba naman “o naiiyak ka mag eyy ka muna” EYYY HAHAHAHA LARO KA TALAGA SHEENA HA
BINIVERSE CONCERT DAY 2#BINIVerse_TheFirstSoloConcert#BINI @BINI_ph pic.twitter.com/Bj4X28R0v2
— b (@SOFTLYSHEENA) June 29, 2024
The BINI member said she did it to comfort the fan, who she said was crying already.
“Eh alam niyo naman, ayoko na umiiyak ‘yong mga tao, so sabi ko, ‘Eyyy ka muna, eyyy.’ So at least, nakapag-‘Eyyy’ muna siya bago siya humagulgol,” Sheena said in an interview.
Meanwhile, the phrase and the gesture stuck with Filipinos, including Nesthy, who has been using it as her signature pose in cameras.
Now, she has influenced foreign boxers to do the same, sharing the moment on her Instagram.
Among those was Yu-ting, who she gave a shoutout and called a “friend.”
“@boxing_ting, congratulations, my friend! Proud of you… hope to fight with you again,” Nesthy wrote, tagging Yu-ting’s account.
The Pinay bested the Taiwanese in the women’s featherweight Round of 16 at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, where Nesthy eventually earned a silver medal.
RELATED: For Filipinos, boxer Nesthy Petecio’s win at Tokyo Olympics 2020 is ‘gold’
Yu-ting later defeated Nesthy in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, and bagged gold after beating Kazakhstan’s Karina Ibragimova.
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Meanwhile, the Pinay’s post was warmly received by Taiwanese nationals who were touched by the caption and the pictures.
“Thank you for supporting our Ting (heart emoji), both of you are female boxing [treasures],” an Instagram user commented.
“Thank you for supporting Yu Ting. The world [needs] more people like you who can distinguish right from wrong. You not only have outstanding performance, but also embody the [spirit] of sportsmanship. It’s an honor to know such an athlete like you at the Olympic Games!” another user wrote.
“You are a respectful athlete (heart hands emoji) #StandwithLin,” a different user commented with emojis of Taiwanese and Philippine flags.
“We love [you]… welcome to Taiwan anytime,” another user wrote.
“Thank you for supporting Lin Yu-ting. Congratulations to you, too,” wrote another Taiwanese.
Meet Yu-ting
Yu-ting, who bagged gold at the women’s boxing in Paris 2024, was emotional when she secured victory at the prestigious Games where she suffered a controversy.
READ: Olympics, Boxing: Taiwan’s Lin wins women’s featherweight gold amid gender dispute | Olympics, Boxing: Lin needs to shut out ‘nonsense’ gender row, says ex-federation chief
Reports said she sobbed uncontrollably while the Taiwan national anthem played during the medal ceremony.
The Taiwanese boxer said she thought about the beginning of her boxing career, including the “difficult practices,” the times she got injured, and the competitors she fought against, among others, during the moment.
“All these images flashed in my head. There are times of great pain. There are times of great joy. I cried because I was so touched,” Yu-ting said before.
She entered the Summer Games amid controversy involving her gender.
Last year, she was disqualified from the world championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) after it said she had failed an unspecified gender test.
READ: Olympics: Gender row boxers were disqualified from World Championships after chromosome test
The IBA had its Olympic status revoked in June 2023 due to concerns about governance issues and corruption.
Earlier this month, the International Olympic Committee criticized the “arbitrary” testing imposed on Yu-ting and pointed to a lack of due process and “proper procedure” in the IBA’s treatment of the women.
Yu-ting is a three-time world championships medalist, a two-time Asian champion and, a two-time Asian Games medalist.
She made her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020.
