THE Philippines contributed to an impressive performance of Asia at the Tokyo Olympics, where athletes from the continent collecting 204 medals in all.
A report by Nikkei Asia revealed the Philippines joined Japan, Taiwan, India, and Hong Kong as the Asian countries during the Tokyo Games which broke their previous best finishes in terms of number of medals.
The total medal haul was a big leap from the 162 athletes from the continent got at the Rio De Janeiro Games five years ago, and the 185 they got both in the 2012 London and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The Philippine campaign, highlighted by weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz ending a 97-year search for its first Olympic gold, contributed to Asia's success. It also saw success in boxing through silver winners Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam, and bronze medalist Eumir Marcial.
Gymnast Carlos Yulo also had a respectable showing – a fourth-place finish in the vault apparatus – after receiving resources from the Olympic solidarity fund for his training abroad.
Nikkei Asia reported tAsia received more than $8 million from the International Olympic Committee, with Yulo among the more than 800 Asian beneficiaries of the solidarity fund.
Despite the grant being given by the IOC, Heather Dichter, a sports historian at the De Montfort University in Leicester, England, said countries are facing a dilemma on whether to focus on elite or grassroots sports.
“Do we fund elite sports so we can get medals, or do we fund grassroots sports so we have more athletes?” said Dichter.
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