A YouTube video claims that Philippine bet Aira Villegas won a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics. This is false. Villegas brought home a bronze medal in the women’s 50 kg boxing division at this year’s summer games.
Uploaded on Aug. 4, the same day that Villegas defeated French boxer Wassila Lkhadiri in the quarterfinals of the flyweight division, the video’s headline read:
“CONGRATULATIONS! GOLD MEDAL for the PHILIPPINES! Aira Villegas, PINABAGSAK ang KALABAN (Aira Villegas knocked down her foe).”
Villegas, who made her Olympic debut in Paris, took home a bronze medal after losing to Türkiye’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu on Aug. 7 via unanimous decision. She said she was not “too disappointed” with her loss, admitting that her opponent “was really good and studied [her] well.”
Her medal was the fourth for the Philippines in the 2024 Olympics, following two golds from Carlos Yulo and another bronze from fellow boxer Nesthy Petecio.
The video merely showed photos of Villegas‘ fight against Lkhadiri.
VERA Files Fact Check previously debunked misinformation about the country’s other boxing representatives in the Paris Games.
Uploaded by YouTube channel TALKS TV, the video received 77,592 views.
