MANILA – She may be a new face in the national jiu-jitsu team, but Alex Enriquez proved she's got the experience and heart of a Pinoy to represent the flag on the big stage.
Enriquez introduced herself in her first Asian Beach Games appearance last week, delivering the first gold for the Philippines in the women's 63kg division.
The Asian Beach Games marked the first multi-sport event for Enriquez, after joining the team last year and missing out on the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
Despite already being a world champion, Enriquez said the victory felt sweeter since she was the first to win gold for the Philippines in her debut.
"I felt really amazing. It was a really surreal experience. Honestly, it was my first time getting to, you know, as you said, join with Team Philippines in a multi-sport event where it's not just a jiu-jitsu tournament. I'm surrounded with other athletes, Olympic athletes, and the environment is completely different than just a jiu-jitsu tournament," she told ABS-CBN News in an exclusive interview.
"And so I felt that, you know, there was some pressure to produce, you know, results. But once I'm there, you know, once I'm in my element, so to speak, and doing my sport, I felt that, you know, I had so much fun," Enriquez added.
For the 27-year-old, who has been practicing jiu-jitsu since the age of 11, she embraces the responsibility of having the Philippines on your back instead of be weighed down.
"I love the lights. I love the pressure, actually. It's something that I feel where other people start to get nervous and break down, I'm able to shine in that light, you know. But it comes with experience," Enriquez said.
"Now when you have a whole, a whole country behind your back, you know, it does put a lot of pressure. But regardless of, you know, what I've learned from all these major competitions throughout the years is that, you know, to focus, to be able to focus on yourself and that the pressure is a good thing. Ultimately, it's a good thing. And I need to, I'm able to use that pressure to deliver results," she explained.
RECONNECTING WITH FILIPINO ROOTS
Enriquez was born to Filipino parents in the Philippines, but her family migrated to Atlanta, Georgia when she was about five or six years old.
It was in the United States where her passion for jiu-jitsu started and eventually grew to her achieving on the mats.
Despite being away for nearly two decades, Enriquez never forgot where she came from and sees competing for the flag as chance to reconnect with her roots.
"This is now pushing me to relearn how to speak Tagalog and how to reconnect, you know, how to reconnect back to my roots. And I feel like it is very important. And it's not just important in the sense that, oh, I'm getting this opportunity, so I should do this. But in the fact that like, I am kind of reconnecting back to like my childhood, and I love that," she said.
"So it feels very, you know, very, like warm in my heart that like I am able to experience that again as an adult or a young adult, you know, to kind of bring it back around full circle, and truly discover, like what my, you know, what my background is, and the culture that comes with it," Enriquez added.
Following her success at the Asian Beach Games, Enriquez is raring to compete again for the Philippines, especially at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in September.
"My goal between now and Asian Games is to be as consistent as possible. I find myself, particularly as an athlete, I am able to compete the best when I am constantly competing. So I actually have a small local tournament that I'm competing in this weekend back home. So it's just one after the other," she said.
"Whatever the national team has on the schedule, I plan to do as much as I can there. And whatever I'm able to compete, either locally in the States or any other promotions that are reaching out, as long as it makes sense with the schedule, everything is going to be kind of prepped towards Asian Games right now," Enriquez added.
As she goes back to training, the 27-year-old has two goals in mind: produce a great showing for the Asian Games and inspire a new generation of athletes.
"Our goal, my goal personally is not just to win by, you know, a small decisive match. I don't want it to be boring. My goal is to entertain the crowd. And my goal is to provide, you know, matches where people can look at jiu-jitsu, people who've never watched jiu-jitsu can look and be like, wow, that is so cool. What is that? I want to do it. I get started," Enriquez said.