Filipino equestrian
For her father Tony, see Antonio Leviste.
In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Sarangaya and the surname or paternal family name is Leviste.
| Toni Leviste | |
|---|---|
| Full&#;name | Marie Antoinette Sarangaya Leviste |
| Nationality | &#;Philippines |
| Discipline | Show jumping |
| Born | () August 5, (age&#;51) Manila, Philippines |
| Height | 5&#;ft 2&#;in (&#;m) |
| Weight | &#;lb (51&#;kg; 8&#;st 0&#;lb) |
Marie Antoinette Sarangaya "Toni" Leviste (born August 5, ), 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 until [1]
Toni Leviste first gained local media attention in 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 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 summer games[7] and is currently preparing for a final run at the London Olympics. At the 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 Globe Platinum Cup[1] in Manila, the Merdeka Masters[1] in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Sony Ericsson Cup[1] in Manila and the Malaysian Open[1] in Kuwang, Malaysia. Her last major tournament win was in when she won first place in the CSI-Dinard young horse competition[1] in Dinard, France. In , 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 5-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 house in which athletes can be housed while training in the facility.[citation needed]
Toni Leviste is the daughter[5] of former BatangasGovernor Antonio Leviste and his first wife Celia Sarangaya. She has been a practicing Muslim since and has been active in the World Islamic Economic Forum since [13][14][15] Leviste has also been featured as an image model for local Philippine clothing brands[16] such as Bayo, Freeway, Tango and other popular brands like Globe Telecom, Sony Ericsson, Cebuana Lhullier and Clinique.[17]