Cerdeña advises Olympians to go for gold

MANILA, Philippines — Take it from Arianne Cerdeña who bagged a gold medal in bowling, a demonstration sport, at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Now working as a registered nurse in Los Angeles, the 59-year-old champion kegler advises the athletes bound for the Tokyo Games “to strive for perfection” and “never quit (when) you encounter failures but learn from it.”

Cerdeña was recently named to the fourth Sports Hall of Fame class by the PSC and says she’s overwhelmed by the honor. “Bong Coo sent me a message and since I was at work, (my husband) Raymond (Valdez) read it and immediately called to tell the good news,” she recounts. “I couldn’t concentrate due to excitement (and) left for home early.” Cerdeña is employed as a frontliner in the Medical Surgical Department at the California Hospital Medical Center in L.A. and works 36 hours a week or three nights for 12 hours.

Cerdeña’s checkered career as a national bowler was marked by her Olympic success, a gold at the 1986 Asian Games in the team of five with Coo, Bec Watanabe, Catalina Solis and Cecille Gaffud, six golds in the SEA Games, two silvers at the 1989 World Games in Karlsruhe, Germany and a bronze at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle. Her crowning glory came at the Olympics. “Every athlete’s dream is to compete in the Olympics and winning a medal is like icing on the cake,” she says. “I can proudly say I competed, won a gold and it’s priceless. All the hard work was worth it. To see your flag being raised and your national anthem being sung will make you cry, feeling the pride and joy in thinking that you have successfully completed your mission.” Through her Hall of Fame induction, Cerdeña says she hopes “to encourage the youth to achieve success … they will encounter obstacles but they should find ways to make their dreams come true because nothing is impossible.”

Cerdeña migrated to the US in 2002. “All my life, all I did was bowl,” she says. “But I haven’t bowled since retiring after the 2001 SEA Games. It was tough when I started in the US. I decided to go back to school with Raymond and we studied nursing. Raymond and I were classmates in dentistry at CEU then he left for the US in 1988 and I followed with our daughter Ashley who’s now 32 and also working as a nurse in Santa Monica. Coping with the pandemic has been a challenge but Cerdeña is undaunted. “We were scared and helpless at the start,” she admits. “Patients were dying. There was a shortage of PPEs and a lot of frontliners got infected. We were scared in passing the virus to our families. All employees in our hospital are now vaccinated.”

Cerdeña’s showed her heart as an athlete in overcoming cancer in 2004. “I had complete abdominal hysterectomy and underwent seven cycles of chemo,” she reveals. “I was so afraid and thought it was the end. The Lord was my strength and He never left my side. I was then in school and never missed a day in class. I had my surgery during Christmas break.”

Cerdeña hasn’t been home in three years and looks forward to visiting after the pandemic. “I’m so eager to come home,” she says. “I always have a blast and spend time with my family and bowling teammates Bong, Paeng Nepomuceno, Jojo Canare and Gina Avecilla.” Cerdeña says her parents Nicky and Dalisay were her inspiration. “My father was a CPA, my pillar of strength, a disciplinarian and my coach when I started while my mother was my worst critic who inspired me to strive harder,” she notes. Making bowling a regular Olympic sport is long overdue and Cerdeña says politics is a reason why it’s still not in the calendar. “Every member of the family can play, no physical contact, no age limit, weight and height are not an advantage and it can be enjoyed the whole year,” she says with a passion.