With a diverse population in southeastern Manitoba, we’ve got folks cheering for a wide array of countries at the Tokyo Olympics.

Isi Masi and Kris OntongThis past week was particularly exciting for local Filipinos who got to cheer on their home country as they won their first-ever Olympic gold medal.

Being a dual citizen, Krispin Ontong says he gets to follow two home countries. He notes he was happy to see Canadian Swimmer Maggie Mac Neil take an early gold medal and then was somewhat surprised by Filipino Hidilyn Diaz’s gold medal performance in weight lifting.

"It is such a big deal and especially considering it is not coming from the sport that we are actually expecting. Filipinos are really big on basketball and boxing which is why Manny Pacquiao is such a popular figure in the Philippines. So, to win the gold medal in a sport that is so beyond our radar, weight lifting, that is such a surprise for all of us, even though the person that won it, Hidilyn Diaz already won silver back at the Rio Olympics."

Ontong says he is on many Canadian-Filipino Facebook pages and online forums and they were all abuzz with excitement this past week. Being the first Filipino gold medalist, Diaz won a whole list of incentive prizes.

"She won free flights and fuel for life. She also won ₱40.5M Philippine pesos, which is $1M Canadian dollars, a house and a condominium unit worth ₱14M Philippine pesos. That is a lot and not to mention the endorsements that are coming her way. She is getting all of that honour, all of those incentives and it is well-deserved, well-earned for her."

Meanwhile, Isi Masi was up at 4 in the morning last Wednesday to watch his home country Fiji play in the Olympic rugby 7s gold medal game.

Fortunately, Masi says his early morning was well worth it as Fiji was able to beat New Zealand to claim its second straight Rugby 7s Olympic gold. He notes this is a huge accomplishment for Fiji.

"In Fiji, we go crazy. Last time the country had a public holiday and last time. It is a national event, yes. Everybody would have been watching. Some of the players on the team have parents that are in villages on islands where they have to literally trek up a mountain and set up a TV to try to get reception, those kinds of stories. It is amazing."

Masi says he had to be careful watching the game so early in the morning.

"I was being courteous to the family so I did not scream!"

Despite the early morning, Masi says at noon that same day he helped lead a free try rugby workshop at A.D. Penner Park put on by the Eastman Warriors rugby club.