Banner Year in Sports: Reaching Mt. Everest summit

(Second of a series)

Rising to the occasion was an understatement for four intrepid adventurers who braved freezing conditions and an arduous ascent to become the first Filipinos to conquer the world’s loftiest peak, the 8,848-meter high Mt. Everest last May.

The expedition was one of the top success stories in sports for the year.

Leo Oracion of Mandaue reached the top on May 17 with high altitude worker Pemba Chhoti Sherpa after a 75-day climb from the normal route. Two days later, Romy Garduce of Manila summated with three sherpas and after a day, Erwin Emata of Tagum made it three in a row.

Oracion, 32, was supported by the ABS-CBN network. A triathlete and a Philippine Coast Guard Authority enlisted officer, he worked as a lifeguard at the Shangri-La Hotel in Mactan before pursuing his dream of conquering Mt. Everest.

Garduce, 37, is an information technology professional at Proctor and Gamble and began climbing mountains for a cause in 1991 with the University of the Philippines mountaineers. He scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2002 and Cho Oyu, the highest peak scaled by a Filipino, three years later. Garduce’s assault on Mt. Everest was backed up by the GMA network.

Emata, 33, is a member of the First Philippine Mount Everest Expedition and a Coast Guard officer like Oracion.

As the news spread of Oracion’s ascent, another Filipino climber Dale Abenojar emerged with a certification from the China Tibet Mountaineering Association as the first Filipino to reach the Mt. Everest summit. He made it to the top last May 15 or two days before Oracion.

Abenojar, 43, climbed on the northern Tibet side while Oracion planted the Filipino flag at the peak from the south Nepal side.

In October, the University of Santo Tomas completed its amazing comeback from back of the pack to claim the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball crown in an epic title duel with Ateneo.

The UAAP season was without its mainstay La Salle which was suspended earlier in the year for fielding ineligible players the past two seasons.

In December, the Philippines bagged four gold medals at the 15th Asian Games in Doha to mark the country’s best finish in the quadrennial competitions since 1962. It was a significant feat, coming at the heels of dominating the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila last year.

Snaring gold medals were flyweight Violito Payla and bantamweight Joan Tipon in boxing, Antonio Gabica in 9-ball pool singles and Rene Catalan in the 52-kilogram division of wushu.

The Philippines also produced four golds in 1978 and 1986 but this year’s harvest included six silvers and nine bronzes, eclipsing the output in Bangkok and Seoul. The previous high was registered in Jakarta in 1962 with seven golds, six silvers and 24 bronzes.

The silver medalists were Jeffrey de Luna of 9-ball pool singles, Gabica in 8-ball pool singles, Marna Pabillore in the 53-kilogram division of women’s kumite (karate), Tshomlee Go in the 62-kilogram division of men’s taekwondo, Toni Rivero in the 67-kilogram division of women’s taekwondo and Eduard Folayang in the 70-kilogram division of wushu.

The bronze medalists were lightflyweight Godfrey Castro and lightweight Genebert Besadre of boxing, Michael Bibat of men’s individual golf, Noel Espinosa of men’s individual kata (karate), Cecil Mamiit in men’s singles tennis, Mamiit and Eric Taino in men’s doubles tennis, Manuel Rivero in the 67-kilogram division of men’s taekwondo, Kathleen Eunice Alora in the 47-kilogram division of women’s taekwondo and Veronica Domingo in the 63-kilogram division of women’s taekwondo.

As expected, taekwondo and boxing enjoyed the lion’s share of the medals. Five jins and four boxers finished with medals.

The Philippine delegation consisted of 229 athletes, the biggest contingent ever since the Asian Games began in 1950.

The medalists earned a total of P13.5 million in cash incentives from the government. A bonus of P1.5 million went to each gold medalist, P800,000 for each silver medalist and P300,000 for each bronze medalist.

A cause for concern was the showing of Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The three countries claimed more gold medals than the Philippines and were among the top 12 in the final medal tally. The Philippines wound up 18th overall. Thailand, fifth in the standings, collected 13 golds, 15 silvers and 26 bronzes in a strong warning that as the host nation, it will dethrone the Philippines in the SEA Games next year.