A total of P15 million now awaits any Philippine athlete who can bag the first gold medal ever for the country in the Olympic Games, to be held this month in Beijing. The best that the country has done in the Games so far is a silver. Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco won one for boxing, but this was way back in 1996 in Atlanta. In the 2000 Games in Sydney and the 2004 Games in Athens, the Philippine team suffered shutouts.
The boxers have always offered the best hope for a medal. Since the Philippines joined the Games in 1924 in Paris, the country has won only nine medals: two silvers and seven bronzes. Five of the medals were in boxing. The country bagged its first medals in the Los Angeles Games in 1932, with bronzes won by Jose Villanueva for boxing, Simeon Toribio for high jump and Teofilo Ildefonso for swimming. Boxer Anthony Villanueva bagged the first silver in Tokyo in 1964. In 1988, boxer Leopoldo Serantes won a bronze in Seoul. Onyok Velasco’s elder brother Roel bagged another bronze at the Barcelona Games in 1992.
In Beijing the Philippines will be pinning its hopes again on its boxers plus its team in taekwondo. That P15 million, dangled by private companies and individuals, government agencies and President Arroyo, could encourage better performance from the Philippine team. But it would have been better if the P15 million — and more — had gone to the training of the athletes.
Some individuals may be born athletes. But it takes time, effort and rigorous training, often starting from a tender age, as well as a great deal of money to mold them into top form for world-class competition. In other developing countries where many promising athletes come from poor families, the government invests massive resources to develop individuals who will bring glory to the nation. When government resources fall short, the private sector is enlisted to help.
The government has a sports development program but the resources simply aren’t enough. Athletes who manage to excel in their fields are often those who have personal funds to invest and time to spare for training and the requirements of their sports. Until the Philippines is ready to make that kind of investment in its athletes, that Olympic gold is bound to remain elusive.
