The Philippines first joined the Olympics in 1924, and eventually became the first country in Southeast Asia to ever medal with Teofilo Yldefonso winning bronze in swimming the 200 m breaststroke. Since his win, we've had 8 more medals, 5 in boxing (2 silvers and 3 bronzes), 2 in swimming (2 bronzes), and 2 in athletics (2 bronzes in the hurdles and high jump).
Since then, the Philippines has been held without a gold medal for the past four Olympic meets and now holds the record for the nation with the most medals without a gold.
This Olympics O-Fer was sparked by efforts in swimming, shooting, archery, boxing, judo, weightlifting, cycling, and athletics. However sterling these efforts may have been, it may just be that we haven't been sending the right athletes in the right sports. Or rather, we should train and send athletes in sports that we Filipinos can actually have a shot at winning.
Now, wait before you bring out the funny and suggest, patintero, palo sebo, or DOTA, I mean sports that our bodies are actually built for.
Sports like:
DIVING .Our Filipino stature is built for this sport. We are short, lithe, agile and we will be able to execute twisties and turnies before plunging into the deep blue of Olympic pools. I think of how if we catch kids at an early age and train them over at the diving pool in Dumaguete, I don't see how in four years we can't have competitive divers twisting and jackknifing into the diving pool in Rio. Maybe even a medal in 8 years.
FENCING. We are small and quick. How easy could it be for Italians, Chinese, and other nations, to hit us if we move as we know we can move. It might not be popular in the country at the moment, but I assure you, people will get into it once we can put some wins under our belt, as Filipinos are always good at BIRGing (Gayaism: Basking in Reflected Glory)
ARCHERY. I have to agree with this one. This year, it became one of the most popular events due to movies like Hunger Games and Brave, but I think we have it in our country to produce our own Katniss to the Chinese and Russians of the world. We need the support, the bows, the target practice and not just politicians showing up to BIRGe once we hit a bullseye.
BOXING. Now if only we can get officials to call fights as they should be or maybe we can ask them to cut us some slack after all the medals they've stolen from us all these years. The reputation of boxing as an Olympic sport has well been tarnished but it is still there. We have an advantage in the quicker weight divisions like light flyweight (where we have mostly gotten our bronzes) but forget about the heavyweights. We are Filipinos, we are built for speed, agility, endurance rather than power and strength.
ATHLETICS. Wait. I do not mean the 100 m dash or the running events, nor the hammer throws and javelins. I look at the guys doing the pole vault and say to myself, if I was younger, gotten the right training, and a really really long stick, I could medal in this event. It's just people running really hard and going over a bar using a long yardstick. Our race is light, small, and agile. All we need is the stick. Track for Filipinos -- we're fast but legs too short, Throwing -- we're weaklings. Long and Triple Jumps -- again, legs too short. But the pole vault is just right.
HANDBALL. No country has a claim to this team sport yet. Nobody watches it and if there ever was a team sport we could excel in, this is it. Sneak in while nobody is watching.
So please, Philippine Sports Commission. Please stop sending athletes in events that we have no hope of winning. Did you guys really think that our swimmers could hold a candle to the Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte's of the world? Or that our lone BMX racer could out-RAD the BMXers from the US? Or that our track superstars could outrun the Kenyans and the Usain Bolts?
As much as I love basketball and volleyball, I know these will never be medal sports for us. In baseball, we have a chance but I don't think it is included yet. But still I place us a far cry from the Latin Americans and US sluggers.
But I'd like to see a university athletic program or government-sponsored fencing event, or an archery meet, or the pole vault.
We are Filipinos. We are short, we are resilient, we are quick, we are proud. And we cheer on anybody who wishes to wear the country colors and represent them in international athletic meets. To our athletes who tried, don't get me wrong, I am extremely proud to have cheered you on.
To the people responsible, do your jobs better. It wouldn't hurt if you guys can put us in positions to win.
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