POC backs tested Olympic formula

PARIS, France — Gymnast Carlos Yulo’s gold medal in floor exercise in the Paris Olympics only validated the template for producing Filipino Olympic and world champions, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) leadership said on Sunday.

“Caloy has again proven that a Filipino can win in the Olympics with the right ingredients and formula and through the proper process,” said POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino hours before Yulo was to target a second gold medal in men’s vault where he’s the favorite to win from his world championships title in 2022.

“Gone are the anecdotal ways of training athletes for the global stage,” he said. “Today, you have a platoon of coaches on your team, plus years on the production line.”

It took Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo four Olympics and the right formula or template to win gold in Tokyo.

Helping out Diaz in fulfilling her Olympic dreams were a head coach, an assistant coach, a strength and conditioning coach, nutritionist, physiotherapist and psychologist.

From an innocent wildcard in Beijing 2008, Diaz-Naranjo had to endure a “No Lift” in London 2012 and got stronger four years later with her silver in Rio.

She was ripe for the gold in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020.

“Caloy, basically, went through all of that, and both Caloy and Hidilyn have the scars of battle in numerous international competitions,” Tolentino said.

“This is the tried and tested formula for Olympic success.”