Nothing less than gold

BEIJING – Philippine Taekwondo Association president Robert Aventajado said the Philippines will have two chances to win a gold medal in the Beijing Olympic Games – and both of them are in taekwondo.

“We’ve put tremendous effort for this quest. The taekwondo association did not leave anything unturned to give them (Tshomlee Go and Toni Rivero) the preparation they need to succeed,” said Aventajado.

However, he said it’s going to be a tough task, and the taekwondo jins will be needing all the support to chase their Olympic dream.

“The Filipino people will be praying for their success. I’m sure they’ll be successful. Winning will be an achievement for everybody,” he said.

Just for a starter, the PTA and Petron have pooled their resources to give Go and Rivero P50,000 each just so they could participate in the Olympics.

Petron has also pledged P300,000 for a bronze, P600,000 for a silver and P1 million for a gold on top of P15 million committed by Malacañang and private sponsors.

Aventajado said both jins have dedicated their lives to the sport. Rivero has been a national player since the Athens Olympics while Go has been with the national team the last seven years.

Both have been recipients of the long-term program of the PTA, which now has a base of 500,000 practitioners.

“To participate is a distinction. But winning is something else. We want the gold. We prepared them to win. If they succeed, the taekwondo program is good. If not, we shall review it,” he added.

Aventajado said Philippine taekwondo has reached the world level but he also acknowledged the fact that more and more countries are also playing at the highest level of the game, making the Beijing Olympics an open competition among 16 qualifiers in each of the eight divisions.

At the world championships in 2007, the medals have been distributed among 18 countries, attesting to the fact that Korea, a traditional power which popularized the sport, no longer holds the monopoly.

“We have the respect of the international taekwondo federation. We have participated in various international tournaments and our presence is felt wherever we participate. We want the gold to say we have arrived,” he said.