Let praise not distract our athletes' focus

We do not know how host Philippines captured the overall championship in the recently concluded 23rd Southeast Asian Games. Maybe the Filipino athletes were simply better --- better funded, better trained, better equipped, better prepared, better motivated.

Maybe the so-called hosting factor kicked in, that intangible advantage that somehow almost always makes the host perform better. But whatever it is, one thing is certain, it is not as Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would have it. The Philippines did not cheat.

The doubts of Shinawatra could have been born from actual experience. Thailand is not exactly the epitome of fair and square sporting competition. As we have said here before, foreign boxers need to knock their Thai opponents in Thailand or stand to lose in the scorecards.

But that is water under the bridge now. Not one from the nearly a dozen countries that took part in the sports competition took up Shinawatra on his allegation. Maybe this is why he never made good his threat to bring up the matter in a subsequent Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur.

The Filipino athletes, judging by the intensity with which they fought for gold, silver and bronze, as seen in the television coverages, were clearly a cut above the rest of the competition this time around.

Our boys and girls really did their country proud and they certainly deserved any and all monetary rewards that both government and generous private individuals and entities bestowed on them in the aftermath.

But the medals and the fat bonuses should have been enough. To go on a junket, organized, led and paid for by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo for the winning Filipino athletes in Hong Kong was to already go overboard. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Why? Because praise that becomes too lavish eventually taxes credulity and, in the end, sincerity itself suffers. Even when sincerely given, too profuse congratulations that overshadow the feat itself diminishes it.

The Filipino athletes must be allowed to continue to relive the pain of the struggle for them to experience again and again the glory of the win. Laying on the butter too thick can make them forget. And once forgotten, the feat falls flat.

We do not intend to demean the heroism of our athletes who brought our country to the pinnacle of sporting power in the region. But we should place things in proper perspective. Judging by how we fared, an Olympic gold is still anything but certain.

Let us therefore not distract our athletes from their primary focus, and that is to win for the Philippines its long elusive first ever gold medal in whatever discipline. Once we get that, then perhaps that is when we should all go on a junket.

Look at all those other countries that are way, way below us in many respects but tower above us in Olympic achievement. Kenyan runners, for instance, have been raking in Olympic golds for their countries, but we doubt if they ever get the same junkets we lavish on our SEAG heroes.

Because of the economic conditions prevailing in their country, Kenyan runners probably do not get the same support and training that even lowly Philippines can provide its athletes. Nevertheless, they stay focused. They are not distracted. They burn their soles in desert sand.

One particular worry we have is that, since lavish praise has been translated into a matter of cost and not plain and simple honor, we could be exposing our winning athletes to exploitation by politicians.

Money is no problem to Mike Arroyo, the sudden patron of our SEAG heroes. Spoiling them in Hong Kong is no skin off his back. But are they aware he is raking in PR dividends far more valuable than what he spends? What happens to their morale when they find out they've been used?