Double-sided tape

Several controversial issues have cropped up over the Olympics, not just here in our part of the world but in other countries, too. There’s the more-male-than-female controversy regarding two boxers who both got golds in their respective weight divisions (one of them would have been Nesthy Petecio’s opponent if the latter had won her semis match). There is the US gymnast who subsequently lost her bronze medal over a score revision on the degree of difficulty of her routine. Jordan Chiles, by the way, was the gymnast much praised for, with silver medalist Simone Biles also of the US, bowing to gold medal winner Rebecca Andrade of Brazil on the podium following the medal ceremony.

Down Under there’s the thing about breakdancer Raygun and her kangaroo hop and fish flop moves and her having worn a “trackie” (track suit with the Australian logo, with PM Albanese gushing, “How Australian is that?”) during her no-score performance. It got so bad there was even a change.org petition that got about 45,000 signatures demanding the 36-year-old university professor (she has a music degree and a PhD in cultural studies) apologize (it has since been taken down). There were also accusations of a “rigged” qualifying process. The Australian Olympic Committee and other government entities, as well as fellow Olympians, have spoken out in defence of Raygun, who has said the criticism and bashing were “devastating.”

Over here there was the Team Nanay vs Team GF issue which, thankfully, has died down since the object of the controversy – double gold medalist Carlos Yulo – has refused to talk about it anymore. Of late there’s the thing about certain athletes not attending the celebratory rites at Malacañang because they were not informed.

Then there’s the issue of the uniforms – or rather, the lack of them – which, though not central to the sport, is entirely relevant.

The President doesn’t need to ask or consult Yulo about what needs to be done for Philippine sports. The case of the golfers and the double-sided tape says it all. Athletes have to train and practice and get fit and train some more to improve their level of performance and get ready for competition, especially international competition; that’s their job, so to speak, and it isn’t easy by any measure.

The sports associations to which they belong are supposed to support them in the arduous training process, and when they do make it to as major an international competition as the Olympics, the people in these associations should take care of all the other details like travel, accommodations, schedules, facilities, equipment and yes, uniforms so the athletes can focus fully on their performance.

According to Philippine Olympic Committee chairman Bambol Tolentino, “I told all the [Olympians’ national federations] to make sure that they have their competition uniforms. All of them have been invited to a weekly briefing that was more than two months before [the Olympics].” I assume the briefing included what is and is not allowed in terms of sponsors, logos, etc. on team uniforms and paraphernalia. I am also told there is a rather hefty manual detailing all the do’s and don’ts. Maybe some sports association officials did not attend the briefings – or were not listening – and did not read the manual?

Don’t blame the official outfitter, don’t blame the courier service, don’t blame the French customs and most of all, don’t blame or get on the case of the athlete (Dottie Ardina, who posted the infamous double-sided tape video, was accused of “pinapalaki pa ang issue”). If for whatever reasons – justified or not – the proper uniforms did not get to them on time, those officials should have rushed out to buy shirts and caps and gloves and even golf balls and whatnot… and perhaps even attached the flag patches on the shirts for them. Hey, there were only two of them, not two dozen; how hard it is to buy eight shirts – one each for the two golfers for four days of competition – and a cap or two each and attach the flag and the word “PILIPINAS” on the shirts and caps? Don’t blame them for making sariling sikap and buying their own shirts when what you guys got were of the wrong size and not even the same color/style so they would pass as a team “uniform” (isn’t that what “uniform” means – the same?). When the screen grab of golfer Bianca Pagdanganan’s (who ended up in fourth place at -6) taped flag almost peeling off her shirt came out on social media, the concern of NGAP officials reportedly was, “What if we get bashed for this?” rather than “How do we fix this?” The “bring it on” comment allegedly came after this, but I won’t go into that he-said/she-said.

No matter how you turn it around and spin it there’s no excuse for this level of negligence/incompetence, especially since, it turns out, this is not the first time this palpak uniform issue has happened – guys, remember Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, or have you so conveniently forgotten about these? This is more than nakakahiya; this is nakakasuka na – appalling, execrable.

Our athletes deserve so much better – win or lose, as long as they represent our country, they should have our country’s name and/or flag properly and prominently displayed on their uniforms, as was the case with our athletes in the other sports. When Yulo realized he had won gold in the vault after the last competitor got a score lower than his and the photographers scrambled to take his photo, he proudly pointed to the front of his shirt to emphasize flag and country.

Mr. President, I’m sure Yulo will be too kind to say so, but since these officials seem to not be taking responsibility and doing the honorable thing by resigning, give them the 39 lashes.