Peping heads Phl campaign in YOG

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco is spearheading the country’s campaign in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

“We should start working for the Youth Olympic Games,” said Cojuangco of the quadrennial event scheduled Aug. 16 to 28 in the capital city of Jiangsu province.

Nanjing was the site of the just-concluded second Asian Youth Games where the Philippines won two gold medals courtesy of golfer Mia Legaspi and taekwondo jin Pauline Lopez.

The Philippines also took home three silver medals from Princess Superal (golf), Francis Aaron Agojo (taekwondo) and Jurence Mendoza (tennis) in the event reserved for athletes 14 to 17 years old.

Five-time SEA Games shooting champion Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla was chef-de-mission of the Nanjing campaign and has already agreed to help in the YOG preparations.

Cojuangco said the Filipinos should build on the momentum of the successful AYG campaign as they look forward to the Youth Olympics.

The POC president also said they have to act fast.

“We must identify the athletes and we must act simultaneously. We don’t have much time. We must centralize things. Once we identify them, I will look for godfathers,” said Cojuangco.

A total of 28 Olympic sports are being lined up for the second YOG, and since they include the sports where the Philippines won medals in the recent AYG, the Philippines have a legitimate shot at the medals.

“We will try to identify the potential athletes,” said Cojuangco, who’s hoping that those who won medals in the AYG will still meet the age limit for the YOG.

Tom Carrasco, the POC chairman, said the POC board has already agreed for Cojuangco to head the campaign.

“The big job here is to lay the groundwork and then talk to the NSAs (national sports associations) one by one,” said the president of the local triathlon association.

Since some sports in the YOG will still rely on qualifying tournaments for inclusion, Carrasco said the POC should be aware of all the qualifiers that may start as early as October.

“We need to build a data base for all these,” he said, considering that there may be different age limitations for certain sports in the coming Youth Olympics.