Which one will the fountain bless?
Credit to Author: Monico Puentevella| Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2020 16:15:40 +0000
Buongiorno! Today, six weightlifters, four women and two men, will compete in the Rome World Championships for almost a week and try their best to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics this coming July.
Headed by our Río Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz and Rio Olympian Nestor Colonia, hopefully, this time, we can get three or four lifters to the Big Games.
In the last four Olympics, The Philippines has been sending lifters to compete and it finally paid off in Rio. The only medal in the last twenty years for our beloved country. And a silver at that for the only woman in our country’s history to finally grab a medal. But as PSC Chairman Butch Ramirez once said, “let’s also go for the 2024 Paris Olympics, too, and not only for Tokyo. This is the way and how it should be. This is Hidilyn’s fourth Olympics and we succeeded only in the third try in Rio. Which means sixteen years now of sweat and agony. No Christmas. No New Year. No Let up. She was the youngest athlete in the Beijing Olympics at sixteen and went through all the pressure. I was then the first Filipino President of the Asian Weightlifting Federation and made sure she got the wild card. All for experience in the Big One. Through the eye of the needle.
Then she became the flag bearer in the London Olympics, which gave her all the pressure and failed, She was crying all the way in the bus going back to the athletes village. But she never gave up. She knew one day she’ll make this country proud. Then the year just before the Rio Olympics, in the Asian Championships in Phuket, she garnered the gold medal, together with Nestor Colonia. This was the very first time two Filipinos won gold in any Asian Weightlifting championship, which included powerhouse China. Nestor’s story is a tragic one and that’s for the next article. I knew right there and then that an Olympic medal was coming up for us, be it bronze or silver. And maybe two medals. That’s how confident I was, so I joined them in Rio at my own expense. Before we left, we paid a call on Pres. Digong and he probably didn’t believe me when I told him we’ll get a medal for him. He was on his first month in Malacañang. He probably thought I was pulling his leg. But now all is history. Thanks to the support of the Philippine Sports Commission and some private sponsors, MVP Sports Foundation and Ayalaland. These sponsors helped our Association and the athletes, and not only Hidilyn. It’s quite different when business sponsors come to help even before we won any medal. Cause it’s natural that when an athlete wins in an international competition, especially the Olympics, everyone comes knocking in. Which happens everyday in sports worldwide. As they say, “build a temple and they shall come.”
This is why our Association is very grateful to MVP Sports Foundation and Ayalaland cause they believed in us years before we even gained and won honors in the international arena. Thanks MVP, Al Panlilio, Ricky Vargas, Abet Dungo, Bobby Dy, Jaza Zobel de Ayala, Dindo Fernando, Richie Garcia, and Butch Ramirez. We couldn’t have made sports history without your help. But the story doesn’t end here. Next chapter is coming up in the Tokyo Olympics. This is just the beginning. Laban Pilipinas.