HAVING witnessed gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo’s twin Olympic triumphs in Paris, the six national para athletes are inspired to excel and bring glory to flag and country when they see action in the 17th Paralympic Games opening in the French capital on Aug. 28.
“Siyempre, lahat kaming anim ang nakakita sa pagkapanalo ni Caloy kaya ganado kami at gusto rin naming makapagbigay ng karangalan sa bansa,” said national para swimmer Ernie Gawilan before the team left over the weekend for a training camp in Nimes, France.
Joining the para swimmer there are fellow tanker Angel Mae Otom, para track and field athletes Jerrold Mangliwan and Cendy Asusano, para archer Agustina Bantiloc and para taekwondo jin Allain Ganapin, accompanied by their respective coaches.
It will be the third straight Paralympic Games stint for Gawilan, 33, who will see action in two events, starting with the men’s individual medley SM7 on Aug. 31 followed by his pet event on Sept. 2, the men’s 400-meter freestyle S7, where he won the gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Para Games last year.
All six standard-bearers are bidding to break the country’s eight-year-old dry spell in the global showcase for physically-challenged athletes since the late table tennis player Josephine Medina won a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.
National para athletic coach Joel Deriada said the entire team is slowly settling down at the training camp in the city famous for its Roman architecture located 717.3 kilometers southeast of the French capital.
“We are doing great here,” Deriada said, disclosing that the track and field bets are training at the Stade Marcel Rouviere, during a short chat on messenger while they were prepping for their daily training.
“The weather is fine. It is 9:30 a.m. here and the weather is 25-degree Celsius,” he said. “The food is perfect, panay steak, he-he.”
Deriada said the training camp hosts had provided them with a vehicle to move around “but no driver so I am taking over that role as well. Parang Pinas lang, left-hand drive.”
