RP hopes to improve medal haul in Athens

A medal for every two Olympics.

Based on facts, this is the Philippines’ batting average when it comes to the number of participation and medals won in the quadrennial event. And the Filipinos hope to improve on this when they see action in Athens, Greece this August.

Since the Olympics began in 1896, the Philippines, a small nation with a big appetite for sports, has participated in a total of 17 times and only has nine medals tucked under its belt — two silvers and seven bronzes.

The forthcoming Olympics will be the 18th for the Philippines, which has yet to win the gold. It has come close to victory just twice with boxers Anthony Villanueva and Mansueto Velasco settling for the silver.

Villanueva bagged the silver during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics while Velasco took his turn during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The Philippines failed to win any medal in 2000 in Sydney.

Villanueva’s father, Jose, won a bronze in boxing during the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics while Velasco’s elder brother, Roel, brought home a bronze, also in boxing, from the 1992 Barcelona Games.

The Philippines was most successful in 1932 as two other athletes took home bronze medals. They are Teofilo Yldefonso in swimming and Simeon Toribio in high jump.

Yldefonso is the only Filipino with two Olympic medals. He won his first bronze, also in swimming, during the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

The two other bronze medalists in the mother of all sporting battles are Miguel White in the 400m hurdles of the 1936 Berlin Games and Leopoldo Serrantes in the boxing competition of the 1988 Seoul event.

Arianne Cerdeña won a gold medal in Seoul while bowling was played as a demonstration sport. It was the same case with Bea Lucero and Stephen Fernandez of taekwondo in 1992 in Barcelona.

Their victories did not reflect in the official medal standings.

The Philippines skipped the Moscow Olympics in 1980 in sympathy with the United States, which initiated a boycott of the Games due to the Russian attack on Afghanistan.

The Philippines competed in the Olympics for the first time in 1924 in Paris with David Nepomuceno as the only representative. He competed in the 100m and 400m run and was accompanied by a lone official, Dr. Regino Ylanan.