MANILA, Philippines — For former Gintong Alay chief Mike Keon, Tokyo-bound gymnast Caloy Yulo has the best chance to deliver the country a historic first Olympic gold medal.
“I saw him (Yulo) perform, he was excellent,” said Keon in Saturday’s interview at Noli Eala’s Power and Play at Radio Singko 92.3 News FM. “I believe has a strong chance of winning our first Olympic gold.
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The 65-year-old Keon, who is currently Mayor of Laoag City, also sees a strong potential in ending that gold medal-drought in the quadrennial summer games in boxing as well as other martial arts sports and weightlifting.
“Boxing, of course. We have Manny Pacquiao, we should be able to win gold in boxing. Martial arts in different divisions and weightlifting too,” said Keon.
Keon said he sees a lot of talent nowadays and making them produce bigger results would need putting them an environment where there is an opportunity to excel.
“I really believe we have the talents, we just have to get our acts together,” he said.
In his time, Keon has produced a lot of world-class athletes including former Asia’s “Sprint Queen” Lydia de Vega-Mercado and two-time Olympian Isidro del Prado.
The “Miracle of 91” when the country won 91 golds and a mint short of emerging as Southeast Asian Games overall champions was accredited to Keon, who set up the foundation for it.