Trans boxer Hergie Bacyadan has punched through barriers to get to where he is now—the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Find out more about the athlete here.
Related: Here Are All The Filipino Athletes Competing At The 2024 Paris Olympics
The athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have been doing nothing less than making the nation proud. One such athlete has been making the rounds on social media for being a queer indigenous sports icon—Hergie Bacyadan.
IG/hergiebacyadan
Hergie Bacyadan is a transgender male boxer currently part of Team Philippines, competing in the women’s boxing division. The 29-year old has had over a decade-long career in combat sports, competing in international competitions, earning medals and qualifications, and improving his skills—eventually making his way to France for the much-awaited Paris 2024 Olympics. He joins fellow boxers Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, Eumir Marcial, and Aira Villegas on the Philippine boxing team. Learn a little bit about the trending athlete below.
HE’S A MARTIAL ARTIST
Hargie Bacyadan has been a combat sport athlete since he started his career. Hergie started his fighting career in martial arts Chinese wushu and Vietnamese vovinam. He first competed in international wushu championships, earning two silver medals, and went on to win a gold medal in the 2023 World Vovinam Championships in the women’s vovinam division, being the first Filipino to do so.
He transitioned to boxing officially in 2019, making his debut at ASBC Asian Grand Slam Boxing Championships in a bid for the Olympics. For the last five years, Hergie’s been making his way up the ranks, and eventually qualified in the women’s middleweight category for Paris 2024, making a dream of his come true.
INDIGENOUS ROOTS
The boxer has indigenous roots, being a native of Kalinga, which makes him Igorot. Before he went off to Paris for the Olympics, Hergie revealed he received a “warrior’s blessing” from the Kalinga tribe. In an interview, Hergie talked about how he’s motivated by his family and his tribe. He said, “Ang motivation ko yung family ko, tribo ko sa Kalinga, at yung mga taong nagtitiwala rin sa akin na kaya kong mag medal dito sa Paris.”
QUEER ICON
IG/hergiebacyadan
Hergie is a transmasc athlete, and is paving the way for queer Pinoy athletes and aspiring athletes to be unstoppable in achieving their dreams, despite any and all discrimination and negative public opinion regarding their SOGIE. Proud to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community, in a recent interview, Hergie stated no preference regarding his pronouns, but explained that he has always felt that he was a man. He’s also said that he was attracted to women—he’s married to Lady Denily Digo (sorry to disappoint all the people online thirsting over him!).
COMPETITION DEETS
You may be asking why the athlete is competing in the women’s division at the Olympics. It’s because while Hergie is a trans man, he has not undergone any hormone replacement therapy. Yes, as people online echo in shock, he’s not on T! He’s trained hard for his physique and skills, and got a shot at the Summer Games because of his hard work. Hergie qualified for the Olympics by winning his quota bouts round in the 2nd World Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, defeating Venezuela’s Maryelis Yriza.
Though he’s received contention for his participation in matches in the women’s category, particularly during his competition run at the World Vovinam Championship in 2023, he and sports organization Vovinam Pilipinas Federation condemned the protests of opposing teams and stood behind Hergie’s eligibility to compete where he does.
Despite all the challenges he’s had to overcome, including going up the best of the best in boxing at Paris 2024, Hergie’s got a chance to be the first transgender male athlete to win an Olympic medal, and we’re rooting for him hard.
Continue Reading: 5 Ways You Can Support Team Philippines At The 2024 Paris Olympics
