PALEMBANG, Indonesia --- Nawala ang inasahang dalawang gold medal sa BMX event nang hindi palaruin ang mga lahok ng Pilipinas.
Sina Fil-Ams Alexis Manosa at Daniel Patrick Manabat ay hindi pinasali ng organizer dito matapos magreklamo ang Malaysia at Thailand.
“Despite appeals by our cycling president Mayor Bambol Tolentino, Alexis and Daniel were disqualified from the 26th SEA Games BMX event over the technicality of having two UCI licenses - one American and another Filipino,” wika ni team manager Ed Mangaser.
Patok sa ginto sina Manosa at Manabat sa kompetisyon dahil ang 34-anyos na si Manosa ay nalagay bilang No. 9 sa US Elite Pro Tour noong 2004, habang ang 24-anyos na si Manabat ay isang two-time silver medalist sa World BMX Championships.
“Most probable they (organizers) knew our riders had a big chance of winning the gold here. They must have seen how well they performed during practice last Thursday so apparently used the technicality from preventing them in competing in Friday’s competition,” dagdag pa ni Mangaser.
Nainis rin si POC president Jose Cojuangco, Jr. nang nalaman ang nangyari.
“Why did the organizers disqualify our riders at the last minute? Why did they not question their entry when we submitted them earlier? Otherwise we would not have sent them here,” banat ni Cojuangco.
Dismayado man ay sinabi nina Manosa at Manabat na hindi umano ito makakapigil sa kanilang dalawa na katawanin ang Pilipinas sa iba pang international competitions sa susunod na taon.