Broader base for Olympic quest urged

Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco yesterday said local sports officials should look farther than the 12 "chosen sports" in its bid to win the country’s first elusive gold in the Olympics.

"I’m looking at every athlete and not just these sports. We must all look at the athlete and not just the sport," said Cojuangco during yesterday’s PSA Forum at the Pantalan Restaurant in Manila.

For the country’s bid in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, sports officials, including those from the Philippine Sports Commission, have identified 12 sports with the best medal potential in the Olympics.

These are athletics, swimming, diving, boxing, taekwondo, archery, fencing, lawn tennis,weightlifting, gymnastics, shooting and wushu (a demonstration sport in Beijing).

"It’s hard to say that we must only concentrate on these 12 sports. Because if there are athletes from the other sports who will excel, then he or she also deserves the attention," said Cojuangco.

"Again, we must look at the individual athletes. I am firmly convinced that there are other sports where Filipino athletes can truly excel. We haven’t really seen the true potential of the Filipino athlete," he added.

Cojuangco stressed that for the 24th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in December, every deserving athlete should be given the right to represent the country.

Cojuangco said the budget should not be used as a gauge in determining the size of the RP delegation. He said the budget should come after all deserving athletes have been identified.

Meanwhile, the PSC board has approved the setting up of a Mindanao Institute of Sports, which will serve as a satellite of the Philippine Sports Institute based at Philsports in Pasig.

The Mindanao Institute of Sports is an undertaking of Congressman Abdullah Dimaporo and Gov. Imelda Dimaporo.

"Its purpose is to promote the coaches’ education in Mindanao and special training for athletes in Mindanao," said PSC chairman Butch Ramirez.