YES, we must celebrate Carlos Yulo's two gold medals at the Olympics, and, yes, the two bronze medals by boxers Nesthy Petacio and Aira Villegas are to be celebrated as well, and let us not forget all those who fought and played with all their will and might to make the country proud.
But amidst all the celebration, we must not ignore the travails of golfers Dottie Ardina and Bianca Pagdanganan, both of whom suffered humiliation after being thrust in the company of fellow golfers and Paris sports officials without their proper uniforms in a situation completely avoidable.
Let us not sweep this over to the rough or throw it out of bounds.
In a lengthy Facebook post that's gone viral — which I believe all must read, including those in Congress — Ardina narrated the meticulous process of having to personally create uniforms for both their practice rounds and the tournament proper. Filipino officials said the uniforms were on their way to Paris but, no, they were not.
Ardina: 'Sana wala ng atletang Pilipino na magmukhang busabos'
In a video posted by Ardina's mom that made hearts burst with awe at both her devotion to the sport and her anger at the ineptitude of our sports officials, she was seen slowly and gingerly applying scotch tape to a Philippine-flag patch to attach it to a shirt that had been hurriedly purchased at a Paris store in order to have something proper to wear at the Games the next day.
In the video, Ardina was seen worrying that the tape might not survive 18 holes and that the flag might just fall off.
If sports officials — particularly from the National Golf Association of the Philippines, the organization in charge of the sport — have any shame left in them, they should profusely and publicly apologize to the golfers and to the Filipino people for this shameful treatment of our Olympians.
Even better, some of them should resign and let others run the NGAP to restore the respect that's been totally wiped out since the administration of Martin Lorenzo and Bones Floro.
The bungled uniforms for an event whose timeline was from the start quite definite clearly illustrates the ineptitude of NGAP leaders, the very same ones whose ascension to a new term at the last NGAP polls already came tainted with accusations of chicanery. (But that's a story for another day.)
Ardina was honest, detailed and, I dare say, brave about exposing their ordeal in the hands of the NGAP.
Excerpts from her post, published as is, read: "Uulitin ko po, walang dumating na uniporme at ang binili sa Paris ay hindi kasya sa amin PAREHO at ang PHI logo ay nasa ilalim ng collar... May pinasuot sa amin nung last day at nakatahi na ang flag.. pero tulad ng naunang binili, isa lang sa amin nagkasya dahil hindi naman nagbago ang size na binili para sa akin at magkaiba din ang gawa, kulay at design ng shirts...
"Nabanggit ko din po sa video ko na 'nakakahiya' dahil sobra po talaga daming tao at hindi maiwasan magtanong ang ibang players sa akin. 'Your flag is peeling off' o 'you did not get uniforms?' 'That's a lot of tapes. They did not provide you head covers?'...
"Ang competition po ay LIVE din on TV at online streaming world wide! Nakakalungkot dahil nakita pa ang flag natutuklap.
"Tungkol naman po sa issue ng club head covers, kami po ay nasita ulit ng IOC official sa clubhouse during the practice round. Bawal daw po kasi na gamitin ang may company golf brands kaya po napilitan kami lagyan ng duct tape na itim ang head covers. Ang ganda sana ng covers namin kung Philippine flag ang design."
Ardina also said she could not understand how the Philippine Olympic Committee, which was in charge of only 22 athletes, and the NGAP, which was in charge of just two of those 22, were unable to procure their uniforms despite having enough time and plenty of money.
Band-aid solutions
Instead, what followed was a flurry of band-aid solutions to beat deadline requirements set by organizers regarding uniforms. The result was not only an embarrassment for our two golfers, who at one point had to play using shirts different from each other's, but also a black eye for the country as our players became the object of quizzical comments and looks from competing golfers.
While Ardina and teammate Bianca were at their wits' end trying to put together a workable uniform for the competition, they also had to focus on their game in a sport which, as any serious golfer will tell you, requires total focus.
The first two days of the event did not go well for the two, yet in the last two rounds the two friends managed to produce a game worthy of true Olympians.
In the final round, Ardina shot a three-under-par 69 to jump from 23rd place to 13th, while Bianca pushed herself so hard she nearly secured a playoff for third place and a possible bronze medal. She eventually settled for a tie for fourth after a scintillating four-under-par 68 in the final round.
That the ladies were able to perform at the highest level despite distractions caused by the uniform fiasco is a tribute to their professionalism and dedication.
One was left to wonder what could have caused this mishap in the Olympics no less, the biggest sporting event in the world held only once every four years and for which athletes need to qualify.
The NGAP, as well as the POC, has not explained the mess.
Ardina notes that the NGAP, aside from failing to provide them with club head covers, also failed to provide them with basics: golf balls and gloves and club head covers.
Still another bombshell: Ardina says their campaign to compete in the Olympics and represent the country had no support at all from the POC and NGAP. They did it on their own with the support of their sponsors and private individuals.
COLUMN: Golf, a non-contact sport, just suffered a black eye
In hindsight, this may be one reason why the POC and the NGAP had little or no interest in supporting the golf team. They did not have the foresight to invest in our golfers and they could therefore not claim credit should the two golfers win.
Thinking Dottie and Bianca had no medal chances at all, they left the two to their own devices. Except that these officials did not see that Dottie had a lot of fight in her, aside from being unafraid about saying what she thought about those who rained on their Olympic parade.
But kudos to the golfers. They were professionals till the end.
One last word
Oh, one last note: Dottie's post about the Philippine media that covered the Olympics.
"Kaya din po ako nagsalita kasi puro official statements ng POC at NGAP ang lumalabas. May kasama naman kaming media sa competition pero hindi inihahayag sa publiko ang negatibong nagaganap sa amin. Maraming local [French, among others] media ang nag-reach out sa akin pero wala akong kinausap out of respect sa kasama naming media at hinihintay ko na sila ang magbalita ng katotohanan. Wala naman pong nanggaling sa kanila kaya nagsalita na po ako."
Our athletes — when will they be treated right?
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