RP bets off for Sydney Paralympic Games

Two athletes from the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled (PHILSPADA) left for Australia yesterday to see action in the 11th Paralympic Games which will begin on Oct. 18.

Powerlifter Adeline Dumapong and javelin thrower Andres Lubin, veterans of the 1999 Far East and South Pacific (FESPIC) Games in Bangkok, will be joining 4,000 athletes from 125 countries in the 11-day event to be held at the Sydney Olympic Park.

Dumapong and Lubin were accompanied by coaches Romy Sotto (athletics) and Nestor Fajota III (powerlifting), and PHILSPADA president Mike Barredo, who serves as chef de mission of the RP delegation sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission.

The Ifugao-born Dumapong won the gold medal in the Malaysia Paralympic and the Paralympic Games qualifying held in Florida this year. She topped the PHILSPADA National Games in Cebu this year and was back-to-back champion in the APPLAWD National Competition in Manila in 1997 and 1998.

Lubin, a native of Baguio City, took the javelin silver and the discus bronze in the FESPIC Games. He also bagged the javelin silver in the Malaysia Paralympics.