Road map needed for Philippine sports

A number of people have asked how is it possible for the Philippines to dominate the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Manila last year and yet languish close to the cellar a year later in the on-going 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar?

The Philippine contingent captured the overall championship of the SEA Games in Manila last December with 113 gold medals, 84 silvers and 94 bronzes. In contrast, in the Asian Games, after 10 days of competition (as of Dec. 10), the Philippines had three silvers and two bronzes.

The Philippine performance thus far puts it in seventh spot among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-countries in the Doha Asian Games. These ASEAN member-countries compete in the SEA Games. The Thais are followed by Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, which has three silvers and four bronzes. Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Timor Leste have not won any medal so far.

Thailand leads the SEA Games competitors in the Asian Games. Thailand, which claimed second spot in the overall championship in last year’s SEA Games with 87 golds, 78 silvers and 118 bronzes, is eighth overall in Doha as of Dec. 10. Leading the pack is China with 103 gold medals.

What, however, is the explanation for the sudden drop in the Philippine performance? At this stage, there is a grave danger that the Doha contingent may be hard pressed to at least match the three golds, seven silvers and 16 bronzes won by the Philippines in Busan, Korea four years ago, unless boxing (through Violito Payla, Godfrey Castro and Joan Tipon), billiards and wushu deliver and we create some surprises in golf and equestrian.

One of the major reasons for such an erratic performance is, at the risk of being repetitive and belaboring the point, the absence of an integrated overall plan for Philippine sports that taps all sports stakeholders and defines their respective roles in attaining well-defined objectives and measurable goals.

An effort by Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco Jr. to update some months back an existing master plan put together during my watch at the Philippine Sports Commission has to be followed through and given renewed attention. Nothing less than a well thought out road map for Philippine sports is needed if the sports community wishes to be taken seriously by those who are being called upon to provide resources, whether they be from government or the private sector, and by those against whom we compete in the international arena.

A road map that is rigorously put together becomes even more necessary as the country moves from one level of competition to the next. There is a whale of a difference between the SEA Games and the Asian Games and certainly between the latter and the Olympics. And ordinary people do not seem to realize this difference, thus the expressions of surprise and puzzlement.

For starters, in the Asian Games, one finds world-record holders among athletes from the 45 countries that compete. In contrast, in the SEA Games, that has 11 countries in its roster, with the possible exception of badminton, boxing, billiards (provided the Asiad does not conflict with lucrative tournaments in the United States and other billiards hot spots), wushu (which, like billiards is not also an Olympic sport), and possibly taekwondo, one cannot say that the regional games among ASEAN members has truly world-class competitors.

An example of the wide disparity between the level of Asian and SEA Games competitions is 24-year old hurdler from China, Liu Xiang.

The Associated Press (AP) says in an article in the International Herald Tribune of Dec. 8 that "Liu Xiang is literally his own biggest competitor at the Asian Games." The AP notes that lacking a serious opponent, the Olympic champion and 110-meter world-record holder will be targeting his Asian Games record of 13.27 seconds when he runs at Doha.

Liu’s coach Sun Haiping stated that "Liu Xiang really has no opponent at the Asian Games so I’ve set him a target of 13.20" which is part of the plan. The coach is saving the best for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing so that Liu can show his best before the hometown crowd.

Liu equaled the world mark with his gold-medal run at the 2004 Athens Olympics, becoming the first Chinese man to win an Olympic sprinting event. He broke the world record last July, running 12.88 seconds in Lausanne, Switzerland, according to the AP.

That run in Lausanne won for Liu the performance of the year award from the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the sport’s governing body.

According to the AP, Liu’s race is one of the highlights of the Asian Games athletics competition, which has been hit hard by the withdrawal of top stars such as Japan’s Olympic hammer throwing champion, Koji Murofushi, and host Qatar’s world champion steeplechaser Saif Saaeed Shaheen.

This early Liu and basketball superstar Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets have been installed as the leading contenders for the honor of carrying the Chinese flag in the 2008 opening ceremonies in Beijing.Speaking of Qatar, the country is an example of, how with single-minded effort, it is moving steadily towards its goal of achieving athletic respectability. As pointed out by Ezanor Kasah of the Brunei Times, Qatar’s participation in the Asiad is something to marvel at. From one bronze in 1982, Qatar garnered four golds in 2002.

The country has made no secret of its intention to host the 2016 Olympics. Surely, it can learn from its hosting the 15th Asian Games which have been marked by the death of South Korean rider Kim Hyong Chil, daily rain, half empty stadiums, a doping scandal involving Myanmar’s weightlifter Than Kyi Kyi who tested positive to the banned diuretic furosemide and an altercation between the Oman and Bangladesh field hockey teams.

Truly, the Philippines can learn a thing or two from countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Qatar. One of these is to go back to basics, do some real planning and put together a four-year road map for Philippine sports starting with the 2008 Beijing Olympics.