THE Philippine Olympic Committee is eyeing at least 19 athletes for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games slated July 26 to August 11 in Paris.
“It will be very good if we again have 19 Olympians, but if we don’t have those numbers, the focus will be on the podium. Hopefully, we haul more in Paris,” said POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
Paris marks the centennial of Philippine participation in the Olympics and Tolentino is praying to surpass Hidlyn Diaz-Naranjo’s weightlifting gold medal, Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam’s boxing silver and Eumir Marcial’s bronze at the Tokyo Games.
“We’re not only the country preparing for Paris, everybody else is preparing hard for the Olympics,” Tolentino said. “We need all the support—moral, financial, among others.”
Bambol: Paris Olympics a tough challenge
He said the Paris Olympics will be a tough challenge.
“This will be a tough year for us, Paris is just around the corner,” he said. “And before we get there, there are tough competitions for our athletes to qualify.”
Four Filipinos have so far qualified for Paris— EJ Obiena, Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist boxer Eumir Felix Marcial, and gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan.
He said the country is also guaranteed three more qualifiers via the universality slots in athletics and aquatics.
Pacquiao's fate up in March
He also disclosed that the country’s request to field boxing icon and former Senator Manny Pacquiao in the Olympics will also be decided upon by the International Olympic Committee in March.
The POC chief also announced that three Filipino athletes are competing in the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games scheduled from January 19 to February 1 in Gangwon, South Korea.
They are Peter Joseph Groseclose, 16 (speed skating short track); Avery Uriel Balbanida, 14 (skiing, cross-country); and Laetaz Amihan Rabe, 14 (freeski slope style and freeski big air).
“I’m proud to announce their qualification and participation in Gangwon,” Tolentino said. “We Filipinos have defied limitations and embraced the challenges of competing in winter sports through the years. We’re living in a tropical country, but our spirit simply knows no boundaries.”
Tolentino gave Filipino athletes a high mark of 8.5 to 9 for 2023 during a live interview on the RP2 Sports Radio’s Headline Sports early this week.
“Yes, I’m very much contented—after breaking those records and bringing back the glory—all of those accomplishments were hard-earned, both by the athlete and their coaches and the stakeholders,” Tolentino said.
Obiena, the first Filipino to qualify for Paris, shone brightest in 2023 with his record-breaking performances at the Hangzhou Asian Games and Cambodia Southeast Asian Games and a historic men’s pole vault silver at the world championships.
The national men’s basketball team also ranked high on Tolentino’s list following Gilas Pilipinas’s gold medal in Hangzhou, the first for the country since the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta.
“But all these gold medals, these achievements belong to all of us, all Filipinos, all of those who prayed hard,” he said. “It was all about the athletes’ and Team Philippines’ dedication, motivation, and inspiration.”
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