BEIJING – First Gentleman Mike Arroyo yesterday praised the wushu athletes for their heroic effort in winning four medals for country, saying some “special awards” are forthcoming for all four athletes who won one gold, two bronze medals and either a gold or silver in the packed Beijing 2007 wushu competitions at the Olympic Sports Center.
‘I am very proud of what they did,” said the First Gentleman, who watched all the Filipinos’ bouts with wushu honorary lifetime president Francis Chan and wushu president Julian Camacho, Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose ‘Peping” Cojuangco, Philippine Sports Commission chairman William “Butch” Ramirez, POC secretary general Steve Hontiveros and other members of the Filipino community.
“They stayed here, they trained here for eight months and now it’s paying off.”
The five medalists are Willy Wang who won the gold in the taolu event and Marianne Mariano and Benjie Rivera who took the bronze in the sanshou events and Mary Jane Estimar who is competing for the gold against a Chinese opponent today.
“So I say thanks to wushu officials who did their best in keeping them here in China and I thank also the boys and girls who did very well,” he added. “We are very proud of all of them and all our efforts have paid off.”
“At least it was so nice to sing our national anthem in the Olympics and this is the very first time it happened so we are very proud of them,” he said.
When asked if Wang would be entitled to the P15 million bonus from Malacañang and private sponsors, the First Gentleman would not confirm.
“I’m sure we can find something for them. From Malacañang I don’t know but I’m sure they’ll get some cash rewards,” he said.
The P15 million bonus cropped up early in the Olympics when Camacho said Pres. Arroyo had told him the wushu athletes would also be entitled to the P15 million bonus if they won the gold.
Although Camacho told The STAR the President had indeed told her of the bonus, he said he and the players wouldn’t expect that to happen.
“I told our athletes and they are one with us that the main reason we are here is to give honor and pride to our country and financial rewards are beside the question,” he said.
The Beijing 2008 wushu has gathered 128 athletes from 43 countries whose entries qualified from last year’s world wushu championships.
The wushu tournament is being run concurrently with the Olympics in a bid to get the game considered for eventual Olympic inclusion.
Wushu debuted as a demonstration sport in the 1936 Berlin Games.