WHILE Team Philippines’ historic Paris Olympics stint is a hard act to follow, it should be equaled, if not, surpassed in the Los Angeles edition of the Games four years from now.
That explains why Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino is convinced that aspiring Pinoy bets should hit the ground running as early as possible for the next Olympic cycle.
“That’s why work for Los Angeles in 2028 starts now,” Tolentino said. “The template applied in weightlifting, gymnastics and boxing has been tested and proven again in Paris.
“The POC will be encouraging national sports associations to apply a similar template,” he added.
The amiable sports chief was referring to the formula for success– a squad of coaches, strength and conditioning experts, physiotherapists, nutritionists, among others that propelled the once gold medal-less country to great heights after 97 long and agonizing years.
It began in Tokyo in 2021 when weightlifting star Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo ended the Philippines near century dry spell of winning the mint, while boxers Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio, and Eumir Marcial wound up with two silver medals and a bronze, respectively.
In the French capital, wunderkind gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo bagged a pair of gold medals in the floor exercise and vault that should make him the greatest Philippine Olympian ever–unless someone exceeds his feat in LA or in the years, decades, or even centuries to come.
Petecio and Olympic newcomer Aira Villegas added a bronze each as the country wound up with a 2-0-2 haul, while pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena and golfer Bianca Pagdanganan fell just short of a podium finish after ending fourth in their respective events.
A total of 32 sports disciplines were held in Paris and Tolentino said the majority of them are likely to be on the LA slate. He said Filipino athletes could win medals in more than a dozen of them, pointing to shooting, archery and taekwondo, aside from weightlifting, gymnastics and boxing.
Tolentino also expressed confidence that cycling, the association that he heads, could emerge as a medal contender.
An International Cycling Union-standard 250-meter indoor velodrome is expected to be completed in mid-2025 in Tagaytay City, where Tolentino is the mayor.
The country of more than 100 million people will savor these triumphs and not too long from now, will wait for the next sports heroes or heroines under the bright lights of LA.
