00:00 Meanwhile, in the continuation of the Road to Paris Olympics,
00:03 let's get to know one of the people who made history
00:06 as a female gymnast who made a name for herself in the Philippines
00:09 after six decades.
00:11 Mary Sumali is here!
00:13 Uneven bars
00:18 Balanced beam
00:24 Floor exercise
00:29 Gymnastics
00:31 No matter what gymnastics apparatus,
00:34 name it, she can gracefully execute it.
00:36 Olympic-bound Filipino gymnast
00:42 This is the 18-year-old Philippine gymnast,
00:45 Levi Rui Vivar,
00:46 the third Olympic-bound Filipino gymnast.
00:49 She won the Paris Olympic spot after winning silver
00:54 in the Women's Uneven Bars of the 2024 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup,
00:58 in Doha, Qatar, this April.
01:00 She is also part of the history of being one of the two female gymnasts
01:08 who made a name for herself in the Philippines after 60 years.
01:12 It's a dream come true.
01:14 I've literally been thinking about qualifying to the Olympics
01:16 since I was like nine years old.
01:20 I'm not only doing this for myself,
01:21 but I'm doing this for the country
01:23 and I want to make everyone in the Philippines proud.
01:27 Born and raised in America,
01:29 Levi is a Filipino by blood.
01:31 She is a granddaughter of Society of Seven Band member Tony Rui Vivar
01:35 and the daughter of film Hollywood actor Anthony Rui Vivar.
01:39 Levi started gymnastics at the age of two.
01:42 One of the biggest challenges in her journey
01:46 was her little resistance to sports
01:48 after performing for Haag-Land's Deformity,
01:51 a bony enlargement of the same sacrum.
01:53 The day that I qualified to the Olympics
01:56 was the same day that I had bilateral foot surgery a year prior.
02:02 So that surgery really took me out for a long time
02:05 and it was really difficult to get back.
02:08 I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do a lead anymore at that level.
02:13 And so coming back from an injury like that
02:15 was really strenuous on me mentally and physically.
02:19 But her family, boyfriend, and friends
02:24 were all happy to see her and her teammates
02:27 fighting for the Philippines,
02:29 one of her idols and inspiration, Carlos Yulo.
02:32 He is so amazing.
02:35 His gymnastics is just dynamic and powerful and clean.
02:41 And he congratulated me a bunch of times.
02:44 Levi also got a spot in the training that was not neglected at school,
02:47 the Stanford University Scholar.
02:49 Before competing in the Paris Olympics,
02:51 Levi's visit was planned
02:53 to be the first time in the Philippines.
02:55 And because of this visit,
02:57 he also dreams of spreading his path
03:00 and giving inspiration and opportunity
03:03 for the next generation of Filipino gymnasts.
03:06 He believes that the Filipino gymnasts have a great potential in this field.
03:11 For GMA Integrated News, Maris Umali, Naktutok, 24 Hours.
03:15 (music)
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