Two good, two golden: Ramirez, Ochoa pull their sport from out of the shadows

As Tim Cone and the men’s basketball team kicked off its dramatic run to the Asian Games (Asiad) gold medal in Hangzhou, China, two Filipino athletes were literally fighting their way to continental glory in the background. The timing was a perfect metaphor for jiujitsu and its place in the country’s mainstream sporting consciousness. “Education,” said Annie Ramirez, who won the gold medal in the women’s 57-kilogram division of the Japanese form of martial arts, when asked what it will take to shine light on jiujitsu’s remarkable run of success for the country. Her teammate, Meggie Ochoa, agreed. “Definitely, education,” said Ochoa, who bagged the -48kg women’s gold. “Jiujitsu is not an easy sport to understand.” The Asian Games could have been the most visible platform for Ramirez, Ochoa and their sport. But the timing of their schedules was not conducive for a coming-out party. Ochoa won her gold medal first, downing Balqees Abdulla of the United Arab Emirates a day after the men’s basketball team forged a dramatic 77-76 semifinal victory over Asian rival China. Ochoa tearfully leapt into her coach’s arms and held the headlines briefly as the Filipinos’ win over Team Dragon dominated Asiad discussion. A day later, Ramirez screamed in delight as she held off Kazakhstan’s Galina Duvanova for her gold. Later that night, Team Philippines won the basketball gold with a 70-60 victory over Jordan. ‘Personal struggles’ But neither rued the timing of their triumphs. In fact, the thoughts ran through their mind after clinching gold were about something else entirely. “We had personal struggles that’s why you saw we were very emotional in the finals. I was eliminated in [the] 2018 [Asian Games] so all these emotions were coming from somewhere,” Ramirez said. “Personal, training, financial [problems] … were part of the journey and I was just happy to get past all that.” For Ochoa, the internal crisis was magnified by the troubles she encountered in Hangzhou. “I went through a lot [in my] personal life in 2023, at the start of the year, and then I was injured in the SEA Games, I couldn’t train for a long time … [and] I couldn’t join the world championship,” she said. Then, two days before the competition started, Ochoa caught the flu. In the morning of her first match, she received a call before 7 a.m. informing her of a change in her fight schedule.