They dreamed, achieved, inspired

MANILA, Philippines — It was a night of nostalgia as seven extraordinary athletes were honored in their induction to the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame at the Philippine Sports Commission House inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Saturday.

Six of the seven inductees recounted what took them to where they are right now. All of them started with a dream.

“I played my first basketball game as a young boy carrying nothing more than a dream and a love for the game,” said basketball legend Ramon Fernandez, who headed this batch of Hall of Famers.

Also inducted Saturday were Olympic boxing medalist Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco, taekwondo jin and gymnast Bea Lucero-Lhuillier, tennis’ Cecil Mamiit, athletics’ Isidro del Prado, Paralympic powerlifting medalist Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta and the late Eduardo Pacheco of basketball and football.

They received P500,000 each plus a beautifully sculpted trophy by former actor Leandro Baldemor.

Velasco was emotional in his acceptance speech. “Our life is hard, we are nine siblings in the family, I’m the youngest. Seven were males and two females and we all took up boxing for us to get free education,” he said.

“Boxing is my life and it gave me a life of comfort and I got to help my parents,” said the younger brother of 1992 Barcelona Games bronze winner Roel, who himself was inducted five years ago.

It was a historic moment for Dumapong-Ancheta as she became the first para athlete to be enshrined.

Lucero-Lhuillier, who spent nine years in gymnastics and three years in taekwondo, said it’s all about believing in oneself.

PSC chairman Pato Gregorio lauded all of them for being inspiration to the nation.