Garcia estimates eight Pinoys to vie in Rio

MANILA, Philippines - PSC chairman Richie Garcia said yesterday his conservative estimate is only eight athletes will represent the country at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year but he hopes there will be surprises in the coming qualifying competitions where more Filipinos could snare slots.

At the 2012 London Olympics, the Philippines was represented by 11 athletes, including seven males, in eight sports. The country hasn’t claimed an Olympic medal since Onyok Velasco salvaged a silver in boxing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The Philippines has collected only nine Olympic medals – two silver and seven bronze – since making its debut in 1924 and the last four came from boxing.

“Right now, my estimate is eight athletes will make it to Rio but it’s a conservative estimate,” said Garcia who flew in early yesterday morning after attending the 20th Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly in Washington, D. C. “So far, we’ve qualified only Eric Cray in the 400 meter hurdles. There will be two more from athletics and two from swimming. Weightlifting could bring in two. The latest report is two of our weightlifters are just five kilos short of the qualifying standard. In shooting, I’m told three shooters have advanced to the next round of qualifying. We also have candidates from taekwondo, boxing and BMX cycling.”

Basketball is a sport that the Philippines loves but hasn’t been able to qualify for the Olympics since 1972. The Philippines has a slim chance to barge into the 12-nation tournament but the way is to win one of three Olympic qualifiers in July. The SBP is bidding to host the qualifier where the Philippines will play with five other countries. FIBA will decide the hosts of the three six-team qualifiers on Nov. 23 and announce which countries will play in the tournaments after the draw the next day. If the Philippines wins the bid, it will play against one team each from Europe, Africa and the Americas and possibly, New Zealand from Oceania and Lebanon from Asia.

“It’ll be hard to win the Olympic qualifying tournament,” said Garcia. “But who knows? If we win the bid, it will give us the homecourt advantage.” It will be a milestone in Philippine sports history if Gilas is able to qualify for the Rio Olympics.

At the ANOC General Assembly, the Philippines was represented by POC president Jose Cojuangco, Jr., POC secretary-general Steve Hontiveros and Garcia. The ANOC is headed by president Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah of Kuwait, also the Olympic Council of Asia president. Among the guests who graced the occasion were US Vice President Joe Biden, Washington, D. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, IOC president Thomas Bach of Germany and FIBA secretary-general and IOC member Patrick Baumann of Switzerland.

The General Assembly brought in over 1,000 delegates from 206 countries. Garcia said the international scope was bigger than the UN.

“It was a historic meeting,” said Garcia. “A major development was the ANOC awarding the hosting rights to the first-ever World Beach Games to San Diego in 2017. The event will be run by the ANOC. A key issue that was discussed was government intervention in sports. The ANOC took a strong position that while government financial assistance is welcome, there cannot be government interference in the affairs of sports. Government cannot have a say, for instance, on which athletes will represent a country at the Olympics or the world championships. Government intervention was the reason why the IOC suspended Kuwait recently.”

Kuwait was barred from participating in Olympic events in a decision announced by the IOC last Oct. 27. It was Kuwait’s second suspension in the last five years for government interference. India, Ghana and Panama were other countries that had been suspended for a similar offense. Sri Lanka has been given until the end of the year to resolve its government issues or else face sanction.

“In the Philippines, the POC is autonomous and the NSAs operate without government interference,” said Garcia. “You don’t see a situation where the government will dictate on the SBP, for example, to put this or that player on the national team. It’s very clear that the roles are distinct.”

Reform and innovation were themes that the ANOC focused on during the two-day General Assembly. An independent doping system and a policy of good governance and ethics in line with the Olympic charter were adopted. The next ANOC General Assembly will be held in Qatar in November 2016.

Bach, a lawyer, supported the ANOC’s vision and briefed the General Assembly on the commercial benefits of the 24-hour Olympic Channel to be launched as a global platform out of Madrid next year. The event was also an opportunity for the five cities bidding to host the 2024 Olympics to lobby for support from IOC members. The cities are Budapest, Paris, Rome, Los Angeles and Hamburg.

The inaugural World Beach Games will feature 20 sports, including beach volleyball and beach soccer. The competitions will be mainly on Mission Beach but at least four events will be held at the downtown piers. Among the sports that may be lined up are 3x3 basketball, BMX cycling, video gaming and surfing.

The ANOC also presented awards to the best male and female athletes of the five continental games over the past 14 months. From the Asian Games, the best male was Nigerian-born sprinter Femi Seun Oguande of Qatar and the best female was Chinese gymnast Yao Jinnan. Special awards were given to 1968 Olympic long jump gold medalist Bob Beamon of the US for outstanding performance (his world record of 29 feet 2 1/2 inches stood for 23 years up to 1991), International Tennis Federation president Francesco Ricci Bitti of Italy for lifetime achievement and Bach for his contributions to the Olympic movement.