Two-time Olympic medalist Nesthy Petecio, 34, has spent much of her boxing career making history for the Philippines. At the 2026 Asian Games, she will share the international stage with someone who has been part of her journey from the beginning — her 24-year-old younger brother, Norlan.
The Petecio siblings will compete together for the first time at the Asian Games, with Nesthy entered in the women's 60-kilogram division and Norlan in the men's 70kg class. The Philippine boxing team has seven members for the Games, which run from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 in Aichi-Nagoya.
For Davao City-born Nesthy, having her younger brother on the same national team is a moment she has long hoped for.
“Syempre ma'am, maka-happy. Always man jud nako na gina-lantaw nga magkauban mi sa akong manghud sa mga major tournaments, most especially sa Olympics (Of course, it makes me happy. I’ve always imagined us being together in major tournaments, especially the Olympics),” Nesthy told SunStar Davao.
The siblings have already shared one important role in each other's careers: Norlan has been one of Nesthy's trusted sparring partners.
Nesthy said Norlan initially gave way to a spot on the Asian Games lineup so he could concentrate on helping her prepare for the competition.
“He gave way for the slot because he preferred to help with my preparation and be my sparring partner,” she said.
But circumstances changed.
Nesthy wanted both Norlan and Marvin Tabamo as sparring partners because she needed taller boxers to prepare for the Asian Games. However, only one could accompany her to the training camp.
“I chose both because I needed someone tall to spar with, and my younger brother is a perfect fit,” she said.
Norlan had also been a valuable part of her preparation for the Paris Olympics, where Nesthy won her second Olympic medal.
“He was my sparring partner in the Paris Olympics, and he helped me a lot,” she said.
Tabamo, meanwhile, helped Nesthy prepare for the Tokyo Olympics.
A boxing family
Long before Nesthy Petecio became an Olympic medalist, she and her siblings were simply trying to help their family get by.
Growing up in Bago Gallera, Davao City, Nesthy and her siblings scoured the streets for scrap metal to sell and peddled yema on consignment to help pay for their school needs and put food on the table. Their father, Teodoro, worked at Iluminada Farms collecting chicken dung to support the family.
It was from those humble beginnings that Nesthy's boxing journey took shape. Her father taught her and her siblings the sport, initially as a means of self-defense. What began as training in their community would eventually take Nesthy to the world's biggest boxing stages.
Nesthy won silver at the 2014 World Championships and became world champion in 2019. She also collected three Asian championship medals and multiple Southeast Asian Games medals before reaching the Olympics.
At Tokyo 2020, she made history as the first Filipina boxer to win an Olympic medal, taking silver in the women's featherweight division. Three years later, she added a bronze at Paris 2024, becoming the first Filipino boxer to win two Olympic medals.
Norlan followed his sister into boxing.
The younger Petecio was already part of the Philippine national team by his early 20s. At the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, then 21-year-old Norlan reached the men's 67kg final and won silver, losing to Thailand's Bunjong Sinsiri.
He has continued to compete internationally. At the 2026 Asian Boxing Elite Championships in Mongolia, Norlan competed in the men's 70kg division.
The 2026 Asian Games, however, will give the siblings a different experience.
This time, they will not be separated by the roles of athlete and sparring partner. They will both wear the Philippine colors as members of the national team.
From injury to the Asian Games
Norlan's place on the team was not assured.
Nesthy said her brother had been recovering from wrist and knuckle injuries and was initially focused on helping her prepare rather than competing himself.
Then he was cleared by doctors as fit to train and box.
The Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines eventually decided to hold a box-off to determine who would take the Asian Games slot.
Norlan won.
“As a family, we are very thankful that he won the box-off and is now part of the lineup,” Nesthy said. “I’m really happy for him.”
For Nesthy, Norlan's journey is something she wants him to enjoy on his own terms.
'Our journeys are different'
Nesthy knows better than most what it feels like to carry expectations into the ring.
So she has one consistent message for her younger brother: Do not let comparisons define his career.
“I always tell him to enjoy every tournament and every training session and not put too much pressure on himself,” she said.
That includes the inevitable comparisons with his older sister, whose résumé includes two Olympic medals and a world championship title.
“Most especially, he should not think about being compared with me or that he has to reach everything I have achieved,” Nesthy said.
“I tell him not to think that way because our journeys in life are different.”
And if Norlan eventually achieves more than his older sister?
“Kung malampasan pa ko niya, ako ang mas pinaka-happy ug proud sa tanan (
If he surpasses me, I’ll be the happiest and proudest of all),” she replied.”
For now, the Petecio siblings have a shared opportunity — to represent the Philippines together at the Asian Games.
For Nesthy, that is already a blessing.
“It’s a huge blessing for my younger brother,” she said. MLSA
