Shot in the arm

Of course, with that amount, it will give more confidence and incentives to the athletes. They would be able to train more and achieve their goal of winning the country’s first Olympic gold.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte jokes with Margielyn Didal during the courtesy call of national athletes in Malacañang. yummie dingding @tribunephl_yumi

Ranking sports executives expressed their gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte following his announcement that he would be doling out P100 million to fuel the country’s drive for its first Olympic gold medal.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) chairman Steve Hontiveros said the additional funding would be a great help to the campaign of the national athletes who would be competing in the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Hontiveros, who has been in sports for the past four decades, said the amount would not only give the athletes enough training and exposure abroad, but would also boost their morale knowing that the national government is fully backing their Olympic bids.

The Olympic gold medal remains very elusive.

The highest achievement that the Philippines notched in the Olympic stage was three silver medals courtesy of Anthony Villanueva of boxing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Mansueto Velasco in boxing in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and Hidilyn Diaz in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“That’s really good,” said Hontiveros, the long-time bowling chief who is now heading handball.

“Of course, with that amount, it will give more confidence and incentives to the athletes. They would be able to train more and achieve their goal of winning the country’s first Olympic gold.”

“Everybody here wants to win the first Olympic gold medal because nobody has ever done that. We only have three silver medals. That’s why athletes are trying so hard to win that elusive gold medal.”

Right now, the country has two Olympic qualifiers in EJ Obiena of athletics and Carlos Yulo of gymnastics while Diaz, Kiyomi Watanabe of judo, Samuel Morisson and Pauline Lopez of taekwondo, Felix Eumir Marcial of boxing, Kristina Knott and Willie Morisson of athletics and Margielyn Didal of skateboarding are all shooting for their respective slots.

Obiena is in deep rigid training in Italy while Yulo is back in Japan following his double gold-medal performance in the 30th Southeast Asian Games recently.

Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (Patafa) president Philip Ella Juico said the amount would enable them to join as many tournaments as they can and send more athletes to the Olympics.

“That’s a very welcome development to us,” said Juico, the former chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission.

“For us in track and field, we already have one sure bet in the Olympics — EJ Obiena. But with that amount, we are expecting more athletes to qualify.

“We have a very small window between now and August (2020). It was great that our SEA Games training was effective, knowing that it’s just about the matter of continuing the momentum.”

Even Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president president Cynthia Carrion stressed her gratitude, saying that the P100-million fund would definitely be a big help in Yulo’s extensive and expensive training in Japan.

After all, the 19-year-old prodigy is tipped to join in a handful of world tourneys not just to win gold medals, but also to expose himself to high level competition.

“The announcement was very fantastic,” Carrion said.

“Of course, I’m very happy because Caloy would greatly benefit. He wants to win an Olympic gold medal and he still has six months to train and compete in world-class competitions.”

During the athletes’ courtesy call in Malacañang last Wednesday, the Chief Executive pulled off a surprise when he announced that he will doling out P100 million to fund the country’s Olympic dream.

The amount would be sourced from the income of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation with the Philippine Sports Commission making sure that it would be put into good use.

Carrion said now that there’s additional funding, she hopes that other gymnasts would benefit as well.

“We need to develop more Caloy Yulos,” she said.

“Now that we have fund, GAP can now give enough time and fund for other gymnasts in the rhythmic, women’s artistic and aerobics events.”