Athletes Star In A Celebration of The Multitude of Human Forms

In this month’s main editorial “Body Language,” we capture athletes who have embraced their distinctiveness to achieve greatness.

The body works in patterns; every bend, flex, twist, and shift is documented. These gestures live within a host of memories, and when the mind pushes past its own limits, there comes a breakthrough: where you find there is little you can’t achieve.

These athletes understand the spell. There is the story of Olympic weightlifter Vanessa Sarno, who had to overcome a back injury to secure her place in the summer games. “I wouldn’t be able to do this if I didn’t like the sport so much,” she relates to Vogue Philippines in this month’s tribute to the Filipina athlete. “When you love what you do, even if it’s hard… you’ll still choose to see things through.”

In 2015, Joanie Delgaco didn’t even know if she would make the rowing team, then four inches shorter than the height requirement of five-foot-seven. But she would even prove the need for this wrong, earning her first medal in under a year. “In the boat, I have no one to talk to but myself. So in every game, I need to tell myself to keep going: Kaya mo yan. Huwag kang papatalo.”

In these images, we celebrate the athletes who have committed to their gestures to muscle memory through training for days on end, embodied in Sarno and Delgaco, track & field athlete Bernalyn Bejoy, Olympic swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi, obstacle course racer Kaizen dela Serna, figure skater Sofia Frank, and karateka Jamie Lim.

Olympic weightlifter Vanessa Sarno wears a RAJO LAUREL dress. Photographed by Mark Nicdao for the July 2024 Issue of Vogue Philippines.
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Track & Field athlete Bernalyn Bejoy wears a HELMUT LANG dress. Photographed by Mark Nicdao for the July 2024 Issue of Vogue Philippines.
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Olympic rower Joanie Delgaco wears a CHARINA SARTE dress. Photographed by Mark Nicdao for the July 2024 Issue of Vogue Philippines.
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Olympic swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi wears a FENDI draped top. Photographed by Mark Nicdao for the July 2024 Issue of Vogue Philippines.
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Obstacle course racer Kaizen Dela Serna wears a VANIA ROMOFF dress. Photographed by Mark Nicdao for the July 2024 Issue of Vogue Philippines.
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Figure skater Sofia Frank wears a JIL SANDER tank top, JOEY SAMSON dress. Photographed by Mark Nicdao for the July 2024 Issue of Vogue Philippines.
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Karateka Jamie Lim wears a RAJO LAUREL dress. Photographed by Mark Nicdao for the July 2024 Issue of Vogue Philippines.
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Wushu athlete Agatha Wong wears a MARTIN BAUTISTA dress. Photographed by Mark Nicdao for the July 2024 Issue of Vogue Philippines.
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