Tolentino elated by ACC Merit Award

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino vowed to up the ante for cycling after receiving the 2024 Merit Award during the Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) Congress in Kazakhstan.

“It’s a recognition from cycling’s continental body that inspires us to do better for Philippine cycling,” said Tolentino after receiving the award at the Intercontinental Hotel in Almaty last Thursday.

Tolentino is also the president of the national sports association for the sport, PhilCycling, which fielded a 22-athlete team, the biggest since 1995, to the ACC Championships for Road that coincides with the Congress.

“My heartfelt gratitude to the ACC for recognizing PhilCycling’s effort to advance further our sport in the country,” he said.

Tolentino’s administration at PhilCycling started to bear fruit back in 2005 when as mayor of Tagaytay City he hosted BMX racing as demonstration sport and eventually as a medal sport at the UCI-standard BMX track in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.