Simeon Toribio

Simeon G. Toribio (September 3, 1905 – June 5 1969) was a Filipino athlete, who won the bronze medal in the high jump at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. He represented the Philippines in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1928. In 1930, Toribio was awarded the Helms World Trophy for being Asia's greatest athlete. He became a lawyer and a congressman representing Bohol province where he later settled. Simeon Toribio, the pride of Zamboanga, was considered the "Filipino Field Athlete of the Half Century" and "Asia's Best Athlete" for winning gold medals in the high jump event in the Far Eastern Olympics in 1921, 1923, 1927, 1930 and 1934 and a bronze medal in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

According to author Jorge Afable, Toribio could have won the gold medal, if not only for the "call of nature". It was a grueling four-hour competition to jump over the bar raised at 6 feet and six inches high. Toribio, who once made the jump, failed to overcome it the second time because he was distressed by call of nature. Before this, Toribio narrowly missed the bronze in the 1928 Amsterdam Games.

Toribio later became a lawyer. In 1941, he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Philippines, representing the Second District of Bohol, and serving until 1953.