Date of Birth: Jul6 16, 1998
Height (m/ft): 1.63 / 5’4”
Place of birth: Talakag, Bukidnon
Occupation: Athlete / Boxer
Education: University of Baguio, Philippines
Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam earned a breakthrough moment when he crashed into the gold-medal bout of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Although he settled for a silver medal after falling to Great Britain’s Galal Yafai in the men’s flyweight final, he has already inspired so many Filipinos with his journey to Olympic glory.
Carlo Paalam comes from a family of 10 in the outskirts of Talakag, an upland town in Bukidnon province next to an outlying rural village in Cagayan de Oro City.
Carlo Paalam won the men’s flyweight silver right on his Olympic debut, and at 23 years old, is the youngest in the Philippines’ Tokyo 2020 boxing team.
The silver medal finish of Carlo Paalam is the country’s eighth medal in boxing, the sport with the most number of Olympic medals won by Filipinos since joining the quadrennial sports competition in 1924.
Carlo Paalam is one of the six Filipino athletes who have qualified for the games as of April 2021. He is also a gold medalist in 30th SEA Games light flyweight division.
Carlo Paalam was born on July 16, 1998, in Talakag, Bukidnon. He spent some time of his childhood in Balingoan, Misamis Oriental. His mother left his father after a failed marriage when Carlo was just six years old. After the estrangement, Carlo Paalam, his father and siblings left Balingoan for Cagayan de Oro for better opportunities. Paalam then worked as a scavenger at a landfill in the city. His neighbor encouraged him to join a local tournament known as “Boxing at the Park” after seeing him in backyard boxing match. He won his first boxing match at age 7 and used his winnings to buy rice for his family.
