Pinoy Olympic tidbits
The
Boxer Harry Tañamor has a very heavy load on his shoulders as he is considered as the best chance for the
Looking back at the past Olympics since 1924 when the
Our first Olympic medal came in the 1928 Games in
Yldefonso won a second bronze in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics in the same event. It was considered as the best-ever performance for the Philippines in terms of number of medals won as two others also won bronze medals – high jumper Simeon Toribio and bantamweight boxer Jose ‘Cely’ Villanueva.
In the 1936 Berlin Games, Miguel White won a bronze medal for the
It took the country a long time to win another medal and this came in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics when Anthony Villanueva, Cely’s son, took the silver medal in the featherweight division of the boxing event after losing what many called a “controversial” decision against
Again the country produced nothing in the next several Olympics – 1972 in
In 1988 Seoul Olympics, light flyweight boxer Leopoldo Serantes ended the long dry spell for the
It was also in this competition that the country won its first and only gold in the Olympics courtesy of bowler Arianne Cerdeña. Unfortunately, that gold medal wasn’t included in the official tally as bowling was only a demonstration sport.
In
Four years later in
Along with millions of other Filipinos in 1996, I waited until early dawn for that bout on television only to feel disappointed in the end. Sports anchor Ron de los Reyes, who covered the bout probably said it all when the decision was announced “we we’re robbed,” he said.Onyok did come home a hero and in fact, I joined his entourage when he came to Cebu along with my good friend, then Philippine Sports Commissioner Monico Puentevella, who is now the congressman representing the lone district of Bacolod City.
Congressman Nyok’s passion for sports continues despite him being full-time in politics and the last time we sat down for a chat at his residence in
Our cheer for the next couple of weeks should be “Go Team
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