SO many golds have come the Philippines' way that Kurt Bryan Barbosa also wanted to be a part of the gold rush this 30th Southeast Asian Games.
"Sobrang daming gold sa SEA Games, gusto ko silang gayahin," he said.
But more than being part of the gold rush, the 20-year-old taekwondo jin also had every reason to win - his family who made the eight-hour journey from their home from Bangued, Abra just to see him represent the country.
"Almost three months din akong hindi umuuwi. Pero nandito yung family ko, nanood. Ngayon lang sila dumating," he shared.
Barbosa did not disappoint his family nor his compatriots as he decisively won the finals against Reinaldy Atmanegara of Indonesia, 26-10, to cop the gold medal in the men's -54 kg (fin) category on Monday.
It was a win as sweet as it was memorable, with this being Barbosa's SEA Games debut.
That performance, which also saw him beat Hoang Duc Anh of Vietnam, 58-6, in the semis, proved every bit why he's a rookie-MVP in the UAAP with National University.
Yet Barbosa remains unsatisfied, with his eyes firmly set on qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"Di pa masarap kasi di pa ako nakakapunta sa Olympics na talagang gustong gusto ko po," he said, with his future plans already laid out starting with a stint in the 2019 World Taekwondo Grand Slam Champions Series in Wuxi, China later this month.
"Yung goal ko, goal namin sa Philippine taekwondo, Olympics talaga. Pero ngayong SEA Games, the more na nag-eenjoy sila, nag-eenjoy rin ako."
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