NANJING – The Philippines will try to put its best foot forward Wednesday as three athletes compete in three different sports in the continuing Youth Olympic Games here.
From morning until evening, Filipinos will vie in shooting, gymnastics and track and field, still in search of a breakthrough win in this global event for athletes aged 14 to 18 years.
Celdon Jude Arellano will be at the Fangshan Shooting Hall at 9 a.m. for the qualifying in men’s 10-m air rifle. If he finds his target, he moves on to the medal round.
Then gymnast Ava Loreign Verdeflor will be in the finals of the women’s all-around and uneven bars starting at 7 p.m. at the Olympic Sports Center Gymasium
Zion Rose Nelson will make her first appearance for Team Philippines here when she races in the qualifying heats the women’s 400-m at 62,000-seat main stadium at around 8 p.m.
It will be the busiest day so far for the Philippines here in Nanjing.
But focus should fall on Verdeflor, the 15-year-old gymnast who made heads turn during the qualifiers last Monday, landing 12th in the all-around with 50.200 points.
It was enough to send her to the finals that will feature 18 gymnasts from different countries. She was sixth in the uneven bars and will be among the eight finalists.
Verdeflor is showing a lot of promise under her Russian coach, Yevgeny Marchenko, who guided American Carly Patterson to the all-around gold in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The young Pinay gymnast is indeed in good hands because Warchenko is also a five-time world champion in sports acrobatics.
“I have to be confident and I need to get up there, be happy with myself and not be shaky. I was really nervous today. I have to get my nerves in check,” said Verdeflor.
Last Monday, she brought smiles on the faces of the Filipinos here in Nanjing, including the country’s top sports officials and her parents and siblings, all based in Plano, Texas.
Verdeflor’s farher, Arvin, proudly waved a Philippine team jacket after she completed her final event for the day – the vault.
She is the first Filipina gymnast to compete in the Youth Olympics. She made it here after finishing fifth among 22 entries in the all-around of the recent Asian Championships in Uzbekistan.
The best may come Wednesday.
“We expect to see the best from our gymnast in the finals. Getting there should boost her confidence,” said Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia.
Verdeflor is so far the only Filipino to get past the qualifying stages here after triathlete Vicky Deldio and swimmer Roxanne Yu didn’t go that far.
Deldio couldn’t hold her ground in triathlon action last Sunday while Yu didn’t advance in the women’s 100-m and 200-m backstroke.
Yu, a 16-year-old scholar at the British International School in Phuket, was 26th of 33 entries in the 100-m back last Sunday and was ranked 19th among 27 entries in the 200-m back Tuesday.
She topped her heat in the 200-m back in two minutes 18.96 seconds but still failed to land in the top eight that went on to the finals scheduled at night.
“You can see that she gave her best,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco moments after the race also witnessed by the other members of the Philippine delegation.
Nelson, a 16-year-old student based in Canada, said being in the YOG is “a new thing for me.” Her mother, Edith Corrales, hails from Tarlac.