PARIS — A first-ever Olympic gold in Tokyo back-to-back with two gold medals in the Paris Games will be a tough a task to follow, according to Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham 'Bambol' Tolentino.
“That’s why work for Los Angeles in 2028 starts now,” said Tolentino, who brought together Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo and gymnast Carlos Yulo, who doubled the harvest in Paris, for lunch along the banks of the Seine River with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
Gymnastics, weightlifting and boxing have brought in the medals from the last two Games, which has seen the Philippines haul three gold, two silver and three bronze medals thus far after going without a medal for two decades until Diaz's breakthrough silver from the 2016 London Games.
For the next Olympic cycle, Tolentino said other sports could be given elite treatment, saying the template that has proven successful in weightlifting, boxing, and gymnastics can be replicated in disciplines like taekwondo, among others.
“The template applied in weightlifting, gymnastics and boxing has been tested and proven again in Paris,” said Tolentino on the formula that has spelled success — a squad of competent coaches, strength and conditioning experts, physiotherapists, and nutritionists, among others, to guide the training of elite athletes.
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“The POC will be encouraging national sports associations to apply a similar template."
There are 32 sports being played at the Paris Olympics that are bound to be on the LA28 program and Tolentino said that there are more than a dozen of them where Filipino athletes could win medals.
“Shooting, archery and taekwondo, to name a few,” said Tolentino, who’s also confident cycling, which he heads, could be coming out of the horizon.
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