Faster, higher, stronger — together MIKE ABOUT TOWN
Citius – Altius – Fortius. This original Olympic motto that meant “Faster – Higher – Stronger” was first expressed by the Dominican priest Henri Didon in the opening ceremony of a school sports event in 1881.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a Frenchman who was present at that sports event, adopted it as the Olympic motto in 1894 with the launch of the Olympic Movement. It expressed the aspirations of the Olympic Movement not only in its athletic and technical sense but also from a moral and educational perspective.
Two years later, in 1896, the first modern Olympic games was born in Athens, Greece.
On July 20, 2021, the Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a change in the Olympic motto that recognized the unifying power of sport and the importance of solidarity. The change adds the word “Together” to “Faster, Higher, Stronger.”
The new Olympic motto now reads Citius, Altius, Fortius — Communiter; meaning, “Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together”.
True, we can only achieve our Olympic dream — or any other dream, for that matter — if we come together or work together as one team.
The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad and branded as Paris 2024, was significant to our country because we celebrated 100 years of participation in this quadrennial event.
The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), the private, non-government umbrella organization of all national sports agencies or NSAs that oversees our country’s involvement in the Olympic games, led by its dedicated chairman Stephen Hontiveros, hardworking president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, and indefatigable secretary-general Atty. Wharton Chan, kicked off our Olympic participation with the “Isang Daang Taong Laban Para sa Bayan: Celebrating 100 Years of Filipino Excellence in the Olympics” campaign in partnership with Cignal TV.
We came off strong from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with the first-ever gold medal in our history from our modern-day weightlifting hero Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, and with boxer Nesthy Petecio taking home silver, and boxers Eumir Marcial and Carlo Paalam bagging bronze medals. But we were determined to gain more next time around.
One of those athletes out to seek gold in 2024 was gymnast Carlos “Caloy” Yulo, who managed to end fourth in the men’s vault and 44th in the men’s floor at the Tokyo games. Frustrated and determined, Caloy strove to work harder and train harder to gain a podium spot next time around.
Support, though, for a rather unfamiliar sport in the country was hard to come by. As narrated by Cynthia Carrion Norton, the president of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines, who recognized Caloy’s potential as a gymnast at age seven and has been his guiding light ever since, gymnastics had been a hard sell. But there were those, like Manuel V. Pangilinan or MVP, who offered support at first instance.
“He (MVP) was the first one who listened to my begging for funds for Carlos to train in Japan,” Cynthia texted to me back in 2023. “You see, I am a professional beggar! No one believed that gymnastics could attain to medal wins, but MVP and Ricky Vargas (PLDT chief transformation officer and former POC president) believed in gymnastics and gave us the funding.”
Indeed, back in 2022, PLDT, Smart Communications, and the MVP Sports Foundation inaugurated a world-class training center for gymnasts, the MVPSF Gymnastics Center, in Intramuros, Manila.
Back then, MVP said that “our investments in the country’s sports development bear fruit when we witness our athletes give their best while representing the Philippines in the global arena. The victories they achieve and the pride they give our country are priceless.”
And, thus, history was made in the Paris 2024 Olympics with Caloy Yulo winning not just one, but two gold medals.
“We never doubted for a second,” was MVP’s message to Caloy in his video call moments after winning the second gold. “Dreams are fulfilled in Paris, but they begin here,” referring to the venue where Caloy and some of the country’s local-based national team mainstays plus some promising young guns are training.
Upon their homecoming, Caloy and the other athletes who saw participation in Paris 2024, including bronze medal winners Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas, were honored at Malacañang Palace by no less than President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM), First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and their sons, Joseph Simon and William Vincent.
In PBBM’s speech during the dinner for the athletes, he told them, “You have shown the spirit of the Filipino, the determination of a Filipino and the excellence of the Filipino spirit.”
The President vowed to reach out to the Olympians to seek their inputs on how to further improve the country’s sports program. He said that a well-structured sports development program will be developed by the government.
“I want to be part of the development of sports in the Philippines. Na-iwan-iwanan na tayo (We have been left behind),” PBBM said. “If you can consider that all of these athletes who have done so well and have made us so proud, there’s no official, technical support from the government.” The President said that they “did it on their own.”
The President also announced cash incentives for all the athletes, including the coaches, with Caloy, of course, getting the biggest pot. All worth it for the honor and prestige they brought to the country.
My heartfelt congratulations to all the Philippine Olympic athletes who saw action in Paris 2024, most especially to Caloy, Nesthy, and Aira, for their respective victories in their respective fields.
The country is not wanting in world-class athletes. We just need to rally together, both the public and private sectors, in providing the necessary support. At the end of the day, it is all about teamwork.
Onward to Los Angeles 2028! *
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