| Toni Leviste | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Marie Antoinette Sarangaya Leviste | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Philippines | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Show jumping | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 August 1973 Manila, Philippines |
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| Height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 112 lb (51 kg; 8 st 0 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Marie Antoinette Sarangaya "Toni" Leviste (born August 5, 1973), is a Filipina equestrian[2] athlete. Leviste represented the Philippines in[1] international competitions, such as the FEI World Cup Show, the Southeast Asian Games, the Asian games and the Summer Olympics. Leviste has also been awarded the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Rider of the Year[3][4] award from 1992 until 2005.[1]
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Toni Leviste first gained local media attention in 1999 when she won third place[1] in the little known Sunshine tour grand prix which was held in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. In the same year, she competed at the World Cup Showjumping Finals, held at Goteborg, Sweden.[1][5] During this time, she was the first equestrian to represent a country within the Southeast Asian region in the World Cup.[5] Leviste then went on to represent her country in the 2000 Summer Olympics[6] at Sydney, Australia, though eventually finishing at 61st place[5] and failing to medal, she noted that it was more important for her during that time to take part in the games rather than winning. Leviste competed again in the 2008 summer games[7] and is currently preparing for a final run at the 2012 London Olympics. At the 2002 Asian games, Leviste alongside Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski won team silver in the team jumping event. She has also won several regional tournaments, such as winning the 2004 Globe Platinum Cup[1] in Manila, the 2004 Merdeka Masters[1] in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the 2005 Sony Ericsson Cup[1] in Manila and the 2005 Malaysian Open[1] in Kuwang, Malaysia. Her last major tournament win was in 2008 when she won first place in the CSI-Dinard young horse competition[1] in Dinard, France. In 2010 she was initially named to the Philippines team for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, but she did not compete because the Philippine Olympic Committee decided not to field an equestrian team in order to avoid the high cost of transporting horses to the games.[8]
Leviste opened a 10-hectare Equestrian park in the outskirts of Lipa city, Batangas.[9][10][11] The facility, which Leviste describes as a "horse spa",[9] includes a "European-style" barn and grass paddocks where horses can graze individually or communally.[12] The facility also has a manor in which athletes can be housed while training in the facility.
Toni Leviste is the daughter[5] of detained former Batangas Governor Antonio Leviste and his first wife Celia Sarangaya. She has been a practicing Muslim since 2004 and has been active in the World Islamic Economic Forum since 2010.[13][14][15] Leviste dated basketball player Vince Hizon[16] from 1998 until 2001, the couple eventually split[17] and Hizon went on to marry Patricia Bermudez-Hizon. Leviste has also been featured as an image model for local Philippine clothing brands[18] such as Bayo, Freeway, Tango and other popular brands like Globe Telecom, Sony Ericsson, Cebuana Lhullier and Clinique.[19]