EDITORIAL — A long way to go

The grand homecoming parade for the athletes who represented the country in the 2024 Paris Olympics has come and gone with the victors being paraded around and celebrated by their adoring fans and countrymen.

A day earlier, some of them even had the opportunity to get congratulations from the president himself.

But people couldn’t help notice that there were those who should have been in the parade who weren’t, specifically the gymnasts.

One of them later said she didn’t receive an invitation to go, despite the statement from the Philippine Olympic Committee that all athletes had been invited.

"I truly wish from the bottom of my heart that I could have attended and been part of this event but I was never informed that I was invited or presented with the opportunity to go... I was really hurt considering this was a once in a lifetime opportunity missed out on. I wanted to be part of the celebration with my fellow Olympians and to share in the excitement of the success of the Olympics with my country, the Philippines. I truly wish I could have gone considering I have sacrificed endlessly to perform for my country and to make everyone proud," said gymnast Levi Ruivivar.

She added she got a text confirming that only those who won medals were invited to the parade, but this really doesn’t add up.

All of us want to see our hard work rewarded, and this goes double for those who don’t just work for themselves. Those who are sent to the Olympics don’t just represent themselves but actually carry an entire nation’s hopes on their muscular shoulders. And for such athletes, even those who didn’t take home any medals, there is no higher honor than to be paraded around and celebrated for one’s sports achievements.

But somewhere and somehow, someone seems to have decided that not all athletes deserved to be parade around and celebrated. And while it’s true that victors do deserve the loudest praises, those who gave their all and their best also deserve their share of adulation.

Ruivivar and the others should have been invited to the parade and should have been there.

If this is an indication of how the government continues to treat our athletes then we really have a long way to go.