No medal predictions from Dayrit

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Celso Dayrit said yesterday he will not put pressure on the delegation bound for Athens by making a medal forecast but guaranteed the country will be proud of the 16 athletes competing in six sports at the 25th Olympics on Aug. 13-29.

Dayrit recalled that before the Sydney Olympics four years ago, there were high expectations for the country to finally capture its first-ever gold medal. But the 20 athletes who vied for honors in eight disciplines came home empty-handed.

"Before Sydney, I remember telling the press if we win a gold, we’ll be right on target, if we win two, it’ll be a gift and if we win three, it’ll be a miracle," said Dayrit. "I was never so stressed in my life during the competitions. I can imagine how the athletes felt. Now, I’m not making any predictions. I’m a little more relaxed. There’s less pressure when the expectations aren’t high."

But Dayrit said he’s not discounting a breakthrough.

"Anything can happen," he continued. "I’m hopeful. In taekwondo, it takes only three wins to gain a medal and a rule that a country can be represented by only four athletes means there could be divisions where Filipinos won’t compete against Koreans. In boxing, both Mel and Manny Lopez will be in Athens to make sure we get fair treatment. Of course, the favorites are the Cuban fighters who were automatically entered and didn’t need to qualify in the Pan American eliminations. But if our boys are in condition, we could pull some surprises. Our trap shooter Jethro Dionisio is quite talented. He took up his sport only two years before winning a bronze at the Asian Games in Busan where Chinese world record holders were his opponents. Our archer Jasmine Figueroa is very promising–she’s only 19. And our swimmer Jaclyn Pangilinan is a gold prospect for next year’s Southeast Asian Games. "

There are 16 athletes and 18 officials in the Philippine delegation. Dayrit said a budget of P5 Million has been allocated for their travel and allowances. Each athlete will receive $650. The Olympic Solidarity movement funded up to 60 percent of the budget and the rest was contributed by corporate sponsors.

The 18 officials are led by chef de mission Steve Hontiveros, president of the Philippine Bowling Congress. Other officials in the delegation are the finance officer, the press officer, doctor, therapist and coaches. The list of officials in the delegation excludes POC and National Sports Association (NSA) representatives.

Three government officials will accompany the delegation. Rep. Monico Puentevella, chair of the House Committee on Sports and Youth Development, is accredited as an Olympic Attache. Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain and Department of Tourism secretary Robert Pagdanganan, chairman of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee, are accredited as Sports Ministers.

Dayrit said the POC tried to add to the Philippine delegation by seeking wild card slots in six sports. In the end, invitations were given to Dionisio of shooting and Figueroa of archery. Dayrit said a 2-of-6 batting average is high considering even getting a single invitation is a long shot.

Dayrit added that two Filipino teenagers are representing the country at a youth camp sponsored by McDonald’s near Athens during the Olympics. They are Lea Langit, 18, and Jose Andoni Santos, 17. Some 10 teenagers were nominated by NSAs and Dayrit said two were chosen.

Dayrit said two highlights of the Olympics are the shotput competition at Olympia, the birthplace of the quadrennial Games, about a four-hour drive from Athens, and the use of the original 1896 track stadium for archery and as the end point of the marathon. The stadium features marble bleachers and is in the heart of downtown.

Swimmers Miguel Molina, Miguel Mendoza and Timmy Chua and middleweight fighter Chris Camat open the country’s participation in Athens on Aug. 14.

The 16 athletes are Molina, Mendoza, Chua, Pangilinan and James Bernard Walsh of swimming; Camat, lightwelterweight Romeo Brin, Violito Payla and Harry Tañamor of boxing; Donald Geisler (under 80 kg.), Tshomlee Go (under 58 kg.) and Toni Rivero (under 67 kg.) of taekwondo; marathoner Eduardo Buenavista and long jumper Lerma Bulauitan-Gabito of athletics; Dionisio and Figueroa.

Dayrit said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given the National Broadcasting Network (NBN) up to Aug. 8 to pay $600,000 cash of its $1.2 Million in arrears for the TV rights of the Sydney Olympics. The balance of $600,000 must be covered by a bank guarantee.

Once a settlement is arranged on the arrears, the IOC will award the Athens Olympics TV rights for $600,000–a dramatic decrease from the original asking price of $1.8 Million. But that’s not all NBN has to pay. Getting the feed from the Asian Broadcasting Union (ABU) will mean an additional $225,000 for the technical tie-up. The ABU had proposed to guarantee $600,000 of NBN’s arrears and charge only $175,000 for the feed but later withdrew the offers because of the delay in finalizing terms.