Pilipinas tumapos sa no. 19 sa Asiad

Kumolekta ng 4 gold, 2 silver at 15 bronze medals

JAKARTA — Mag-uuwi ang 227-atleta ng Phi­lippine team ng apat na gold, dalawang silver at 15 bronzes mula sa 17-araw na pagkampanya sa 18th Asian Games na pormal na nagsara kagabi sa 76,000-seater na Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

At ang nagdeliber ng mga gold na ito ay puro mga babaeng atleta na sina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, skateboarder Margielyn Didal, golfer Yuka Saso na siya ring nanguna sa women’s team kasama sina Lois Kaye Go at ang bronze medalist ding si Bianca Pagdanganan.

“The women in sports are really giving us so much pride. So we should really look at parity and bring in more (of them) in sports. They have proven that they can win,” pahayag ni Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas.

Ang pruduksiyon ng Phl athletes sa edisyong ito ng quadrennial event ay malaking improvement sa tinapos ng Pinas noong 2014 Incheon Asian sa South Korea na 1-3-11 gold-silver-bronze at 3-4-9 noong 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

Ngayon ay nasa 19th place ang Pilipinas sa overall medal standings matapos ang 22nd place finish noong 2014 Asiad.

Gayunpaman, nakita ni Vargas na maraming kailangang gawin upang mag-improve ang performance ng Pilipinas.

“It is obvious that grassroots development and ta­lent identification have to be ramped up. The emergence of young talent in these Games point to the fact that fresh young faces with boundless energy, fierce determination and gung-ho spirit are coming to the fore. We need to find more of them,” ani Vargas.

Pinakabata sa mga gold medalists ay ang 17-an­yos na si Saso, si Didal ay 19, parehong edad ni Lois Go, habang si Pagdanganan ay 21 at ang pinakama­tanda ay 27 na si Diaz na mahahanay pa rin sa mga millenials.

Nakikita rin ni Vargas na dapat bigyan ng atensiyon ang mga medal rich sports na athletics at swimming at ang mga National Sports Association na may mga problema.

“NSAs need to clean up their act. We cannot allow bickering and power struggles to weigh down our athletes’ efforts. NSAs must foster inclusivity, transparency and accountability,” ani Vargas.

Napansin ni Vargas na ang mga sport na hindi nakapagdeliber ay ang mga NSAs na may problema.

Tinukoy niya ang volleyball, badminton, shoo­ting, swimming, aquatics, athletics at kahit ang bo­xing na kanyang pinamumunuan bilang presidente.

“There is a thing that is common to them, and that is, once in their history, there was a squabble within their NSAs. Their (NSA’s) problem is that all of them are very exclusive. We have to talk to these NSAs to straighten things out within their organizations. Because I think we have better chances if they become more inclusive,” sabi ni Vargas.

“Being inclusive means they would widen their embrace and they can get more talent. We didn’t even come close to winning in most of their sports and our performances in these fronts certainly weren’t encouraging,” dagdag pa nito.

Sa tingin ni Vargas, importante ang pakikipagko­operasyon sa Philippine Sports Commission kaya ma­­halagang palawigin ang relasyon ng POC sa ahensiyang pinamumunuan ni chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez.

Kailangan din ang tulong ng pribadong sektor pa­ra madagdagan ang pondong pangsuporta sa mga atleta; ilagay sa cabinet-level ang sports sa gobyerno, ituro ang mga Asian, Regional; at Olympics sports sa eskuwelahan, ayusin ang mga training facilities at i-develop ang mga coaches at iba pa.

“In the end, it’s all about the athlete. Train them well, provide for ther needs, keep them motivated, inspired and focused and shield them from politics. They can and will deliver,” sabi pa ni Vargas.