EDITORIAL — Three takeaways from the Olympics

The 2024 Olympics is finally over and we Filipinos are proud to say we won twice the number of gold medals we did during the last Olympic games.

But other than the gold, there are also three important lessons we can take home from the games.

First lesson: To know all the sides of a story before we go shooting our mouth off. This lesson was learned after the furor involving Algerian boxer Imane Khelif who shut down her Italian opponent Angela Carini in less than 45 seconds into their fight.

Carini claimed she had been pitted against a biological male and many immediately took her side without examining the other side of the story. Those same voices became silent when the truth of the matter came out; Khelif has always been female. Needless to say many would have been spared embarrassment had they bothered to check the facts.

Second lesson: Family issues or conflicts are better left private. This lesson was learned after gymnast Carlos Yulo’s historic double gold medal win was eclipsed by the conflict involving him and his family, specifically his mother.

Note to Yulo’s mother: At some point people should become financially independent from their parents. Also, she shouldn’t call for a press conference if she wants to keep something private.

Third lesson and something that seems to always be an issue in every Olympics: Our athletes still need a lot of support from the government.

While other countries pair their athletes with a dedicated team for years, Yulo still didn’t have a coach four months before the Olympics. He had to find one on his own.

Let’s also not forget golfer Dottie Ardina who really didn’t have an issued Philippine Team uniform for her match. She was just given a sticker to put on whatever shirt she wanted to wear.

Because this is the Philippines, even sports has become politicized. Not all athletes throughout the different regions in the country are given priority. Not all are given the same resources or opportunities to shine. Hopefully, this attitude of letting our athletes fend for themselves will change.

With all that aside we can say with pride that this has been our best Olympics so far. Now it’s on to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.