Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 27) – Filipina Olympian and former De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Paddler Ian Lariba became the latest Green Archer to have her legacy be immortalized by way of retiring her jersey and raising it high above the rafters of the Enrique M. Razon Sports Center in Manila.

Family, friends and former teammates graced the occasion, which saw Lariba’s name joins those of legendary La Sallian athletes such as Ren-Ren Ritualo, Kurt Bachmann and Manila Santos.

Lariba’s jersey is unique in the sense that the logo of a paddle takes the place of a number. This is because numbers aren’t used in table tennis jerseys.

Yanyan’s mother Imelda Lariba says this was her late daughter’s dream. “Sabi niya, 'sana maretire din 'yung jersey ko.' So sabi ko, 'Siguro someday,'” the elder Lariba said.

[TRANSLATION: She once told me, “I hope my jersey would be retired, too.” So I told her, “maybe, someday.”]

Lariba's mother also urged parents to support their children’s thrust into sports, saying, “Hindi natin [dapat] pagbawalan 'yung ating children natin to go into sports kasi malay mo, someday, they will be like Yanyan din diba?”

[TRANSLATION: We should not stop our children from getting into sports because who knows, they might be like Yanyan too, right?]

Having worked with Yanyan for two years, her former team captain Kim Medina said she will remember her with a natural leadership skill on and off the court.

“Even though sobrang galing niya as a player, you’ll never see her na parang, boastful about it. She’s actually very humble na teammate. At the same time, hindi rin siya selfish with what she knows. So 'yung mga alam niya na mga styles or skills, willingly tinuturo din niya,” Medina says.

[TRANSLATION: Even though she’s already great as a player, you’d never see her boasted about it. She’s a very humble teammate, actually. At the same time, she’s not selfish with styles and skills. She willingly taught them to us.]

Meanwhile, DLSU Office of Sports Development Emmanuel Calanog says, the tribute was befitting for someone like Lariba, who was able to maintain her humility despite the accolades she received.

“Two things stand out clearly in my mind. First is how much work she puts in. Whether it’s in athletics, meaning in her playing table tennis, her sport or academics. Talagang (Indeed), she was a role model na student athlete,” Calano says.

Calanog added, “'Yung second is 'yung kanyang humility. She is so unassuming, knowing how she is as an athlete, her accomplishments, how she is as a student. But pagka ma-engkwentro mo siya, you wouldn’t think that ganun siyang ka-important.”

[TRANSLATION: She was a role model for student athletes. The second is her humility. She is so unassuming. When you encounter her, you wouldn’t think that she’s that important.]

Lariba succumbed to acute myeloid leukemia in September 2018. She was 23.

The Cagayan de Oro-born paddler was undefeated during her time in the UAAP from 2011 to 2016, where she became a three-time UAAP Most Valuable Player awardee, while also bagging the Athlete of the Year award twice.

She also became the first Filipina table tennis athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games, having played in the 2016 Rio Olympiad.