A Facebook page claimed that Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam won a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics. This is not true. Paalam did not win an Olympic medal this year after losing in the quarterfinals of the 57kg men’s boxing division.
“CHAMPION !! Carlo Paalam, GOLD MEDALIST sa (in the) 2024 Paris Olympics! QuarterFinals,” the FB post, dated August 2, claimed.
Paalam lost to Australia’s Charlie Senior in a 3-2 split decision and he later told reporters he felt he delivered cleaner punches during the match held on Aug. 3.
As of publishing, the Philippines has won a total of four Olympic medals: two gold medals from gymnast Carlos Yulo, and two bronze medals from boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas.
The erroneous post appeared two days after Paalam, a silver medalist in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, made it to the quarterfinals after defeating Ireland’s Jude Gallagher by unanimous decision.
Posted by FB page Showbizfinds (created on March 19, 2022), the incorrect post garnered a total of over 24,368 reactions, 4,262 comments, and 565 shares.
Several netizens in the comments section said congratulations, but more recent comments called out the post for being false. “Itong page wala tong totoo (This page doesn’t have anything true),” a netizen commented.
