Before she starts training or even a competition, gymnast Haylee Garcia makes sure to open her notebook and write a "word of the day" which she will strive to embody until her last bow.

The 17-year-old penned 'unstoppable' in her journal last Thursday, which she plans to embrace together with the 'Rule of 100' of her mother Wilma.

With more than two weeks left before her campaign begins at the 20th Asian Games, Garcia is determined to maintain this 'unstoppable' demeanor all the way to her continental campaign debut.

"Well, for today, our word of the day was 'unstoppable.' So I'm just going to carry that with me in the last few days that I have here in training in the U.S., and just bring it with me until we get to Japan," she told ABS-CBN News through an online interview.

"And of course, when competition day comes, I'm going to have a good attitude, and I'm going to be unstoppable," Garcia further said.

The Filipina gymnast is expected to compete in all four events at the Asian Games and hopefully replicate her silver-medal performance at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games held in December.

Garcia, also competed for the country in the 13th Senior Women's Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships held in June, gained considerable experience as a young athlete then.

"I was super duper excited when we found out that we qualified as a team for the Asian Games, and I could not be more proud of the team that helped us qualify there," she shared.

"Just being able to represent the Philippines is such an honor, and I am so happy that I have all the support… So I'm super thankful that I have everyone supporting me and my gymnastics, and I just don't want to let anyone down," Garcia disclosed.

Despite facing her own struggles with an aching ankle as well as her past ACL injury, Garcia is more than ready to live up to her chosen word of the day once she sets foot on the competition floor.

"I've been dealing with a couple of ankle... A little bit of ankle pain leading into Asian Games, but just, but this week it's been feeling so much better," Garcia said.

Written by

Tanu