Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam did not win gold at 2024 Paris Olympics
Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam did not win a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, contrary to claims shared hundreds of times on social media that he had secured the gold. Paalam was looking to go one better than the silver he took home from Tokyo, but was beaten by Australia's Charlie Senior in the quarter-finals of the men's featherweight category.
"Champion! Carlo Paalam, gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics! QuarterFinals!" read a Facebook post shared more than 500 times after it was posted on August 2, 2024.
The post includes a collage of Paalam -- a silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics -- including one photo of him punching another boxer (archived link).
Text overlaid on the collage reads: "Another gold medalist! CARLO PAALAM, WILL BRING HOME GOLD MEDAL!"
It was shared after Paalam booked a spot in the men's 57kg quarter-finals after he beat Ireland's Jude Gallagher on July 31 (archived link).
The same graphic was shared elsewhere on Facebook here and here.
Similar posts here and here falsely claimed another Filipino boxer -- Nesthy Petecio -- won a gold medal in Paris but she actually finished with bronze (archived link).
Comments on the posts suggest some users believed Paalam had already secured a gold medal at the Games.
"Congrats Carlo. You deserved that gold," wrote one user.
Another wrote: "Wow, congratulations Carlo! May the Philippines get more gold medals in the next Olympics."
No boxing gold
But gymnast Carlos Yulo was the only Filipino athlete to take home a gold medal at the Paris Olympics; he won gold in both the men's floor and vault events (archived link).
Paalam bowed out of the Paris Olympics on August 3 after losing to Australia's Charlie Senior in the men's 57kg quarter-finals (archived link).
Uzbekistan's Abdumalik Khalokov won gold in the men's 57kg after beating Kyrgyzstan's Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu on August 11 (archived link).
Both losing semi-finalists -- Senior and Bulgaria's Javier Ibanez Diaz -- were awarded bronze medals.
A closer look at the photo used at the centre of the collage shared in the false posts shows Paalam's opponent was wearing red gloves emblazoned with text that read "Tokyo 2020".
A subsequent keyword search found the same photo was used in an article by Philippine news outlet ABS-CBN about Paalam beating Japan's Ryomei Tanaka in the flyweight semi-finals (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison between the photo used in the false posts (left) and the photo used in the ABS-CBN article (right):
The other photos used in the false post also correspond to photos in AFP's archives taken after Paalam's bout with Tanaka.
Paalam was denied the Philippines' first boxing gold after losing in the final to Great Britain's Galal Yafai (archived link).
AFP has previously fact-checked other misinformation surrounding the Paris Olympics.
