Judo queen vows to repeat the feat

HO CHI MINH (Via Globe Telecom) — The euphoria of her dramatic victory hasn’t died down in the Philippine camp yesterday but triumphant lady judoka Helen Dawa already has another thing in mind — duplicate the feat right before Filipino fans.

"Gusto kong magpakita sa harap ng mga kababayan natin sa susunod na SEA Games," said Dawa who emerged the first individual lady to deliver gold for the Philippines here by ruling the 45kg. class at the Lanh Binh Thang Hall Saturday night.

The Filipino cheerers, led by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros, PSC chair Eric Buhain and RP delegation deputy chief of mission Rey Jaylo, erupted in a frenzy as Dawa sent Myanmar’s Nwe Nwe Than down on her back on a shoulder throw for a wazari and Team Judo’s first gold medal in the games.

The First Gentleman called it a "burst of nationalist spirit" as the Filipino crowd proudly and loudly sang Lupang Hinirang as a wrong national anthem was played during the awarding ceremony.

"Ang sarap ng feeling. My adrenalin was flowing. It was a different feeling. You really feel proud to be a Filipino," said Mr. Arroyo on their celebration of Dawa’s victory.

Right after the awards rites, Dawa went up to the gallery and personally thanked the First Gentleman for the support given the judo team in their preparation for the games. Judo was one of those backed by the First Gentleman Foundation on its "Alay sa Atletang Pinoy"program.

"Ipinangako ko na rin na pipilitin kong manalo sa atin sa 2005," said Dawa.

At 23, the pocket power from Baguio believed she can deliver more honors for the country.

"Bata pa ako. Magpupursigi pa akong gumaling at baka sakaling marami pa akong maialay na medalya sa bayan," said Dawa who had brought home medals of various colors from the Vietnam International and SEA championships in 2002 and the Hong Kong International early this year.

Her motivation and inspiration? "Wala naman, talagang bata pa lang ako gusto ko ng mag-represent ng Pilipinas sa sports dahil napapanood ko sa TV yung mga sports heroes natin," she said.

"Napasok lang ako sa judo dahil yun ang sport sa school ko," added Dawa, who learned the rudiments of the sport at the University of Baguio where she finished a commerce course last year.

Daughter of a retired armyman, Dawa joined the UB Judo Club at 16.

She’s gone a long way since then.