Eventful could be an understatement to describe the past two weeks for Jenelyn Olsim of Team Lakay.
The fighting pride of Bokod, Benguet was not just prepa-ring for her next fight in ONE Championship but was also taking the time to get ready for the recently-held 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.
She was not only scheduled to face Julie Mezabarba at ONE 158, but also had to represent the Philippines in the vovinam, as the country fielded a national squad in the discipline for the first time.
The 25-year-old Olsim has since captured the bronze medal in Vietnam and she’s been nothing but ecstatic with the developments that happened in her career.
“My training for ONE Championship and for the SEA Games has been continuous. I just need to make small adjustments and additional training so that I can incorporate vovinam into my mixed martial arts training,” Olsim said.
The ONE Championship atomweight fighter first beat Male Chanthalacksa of Laos, 4-3, in the eliminator to advance to the semifinals where she captured the bronze medal in the women’s under 55-kilogram division.
Olsim added her Team Lakay stablemates’ success in Hanoi also served as inspiration for her fight against Mezabarba.
Team Lakay fighters carried the Philippine flag in the vovinam and kickboxing competitions in the SEA Games.
Honorio Bana-rio, a former ONE featherweight world champion, also made the podium when he captured the bronze medal in the men’s low kick competition in the under 71-kg. division of the kickboxing event.
While she’s watched her teammates collect medals in Vietnam, Olsim can watch Joshua Pacio defend his ONE strawweight world championship against rival Jarred Brooks in the main event of ONE 158 set at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on June 3. – Harley F. Palangchao
