YOG ends in splurge of colors, lights

NANJING – Close to 4,000 athletes kissed the second Youth Olympic Games goodbye, while the chef-de-mission of the Philippine delegation looked forward to the coming years.

Colorful fireworks exploded in the Nanjing sky Thursday evening, signalling the end of two weeks of friendly competitions among athletes from 202 nations under the Olympic flag.

A total of 222 gold medals were disputed in venues scattered around this ancient city, which used to be China’s capital and once protected by a high brick wall covering a distance of 48 kms.

Of all the gold medals awarded, one belonged to the Philippines.

But Jonne Go, head of the Filipino delegation that consisted of only seven athletes and a handful of officials, said there’s more to be won in the future.

She said this year’s YOG is proof that Filipinos can now compete with the world’s finest athletes 14 to 18 years old. In the 2010 staging in Singapore, nine Filipino athletes did not win any medal.

“With full support and resources for our athletes, we can compete here. It’s impossible to say that we can’t,” said Go, a board member in the Philippine Olympic Committee.

But Go stressed that focus should fall on the younger athletes, and not those who are already within the age bracket before they are identified and chosen to represent the country in the YOG.

“We need eight years to develop athletes that can vie in the YOG. I’m not even eyeing the third YOG (in 2018 in Argentina) but the fourth (in 2022),” she said.

To achieve the goal, the president of the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation said the different NSAs (national sports association) back home should look for the youngest athletes.

Luis Gabriel Moreno of the Philippines, who won the gold in archery’s mixed team event here, started shooting arrows when he was eight.

Ava Lorein Verdeflor, who made it to the finals of the all-around and uneven bars in gymnastics, got into the sport before she even turned seven.

“That’s why they were at par in this Youth Olympics,” said Go, who will lead the delegation that will arrive in Manila this afternoon via Hong Kong.

But to make things happen, the POC headed by Jose Cojuangco and the Philippines Sports Commission under Richie Garcia must give the athletes the extra push.

“Our athletes couldn’t have made it here to Nanjing without the support of the POC and the PSC. And we are very thankful for that,” she said.

“We need their continued support. Hindi naman kailangan magbagsak ng malaking pera (We don’t need a very big amount). All we need is to focus on younger athletes,” Go also said.

At 34, Go is perhaps the youngest Filipino sports official to serve as chef-de-mission in a major international event. But she succeeded in helping things get done here.

“Credit goes to the athletes. The officials are only here to guide them,” she said.

Aside from Moreno and Verdeflor, others who represented the country in this YOG were triathlete Vicky Delio, swimmer Roxanne Yu, shooter Celdon Jude Arellano, runner Zion Rose Nelson and another archer, Bianca Roxas-Chua Gotuaco.

They can all look back to their YOG experience, and if they continue to work hard,  and even harder, these athletes have a bright future ahead of them.

Not all sports can identify potential athletes at such a young age but Go mentioned a few that could – boxing, rowing, taekwondo, weightlifting, archery and gymnastics.

“But the Olympic events that have young athletes you need to prepare them to qualify to the YOG by the time they are 15 or 16 years old. Even if we don’t make it to the team events, we can focus on the individual events,” she added.

For most if not all athletes here, this YOG is their first and last.

“You only get one chance here,” said Go, adding that she has under her wings an eight-year-old boy in the PBDF’s program.

“We feed him and send him to school. And by the time he turns 14, he should be able to qualify here. No one knows how far he can go. But he’s so good in rowing and kayak,” said Go.

“We need more athletes like him. We should really focus on the youth. If we want to win a gold in the Olympics, we should first start winning in the YOG,” she added.

This is where it all begins.