After John Paul picked me up at the Malibu Creek State Park last Saturday noon, I started telling him about my early prediction for the 2008 Philippine Olympic Team of not being able to win or bring home our first Gold Olympic Medal. This was the details of the conversation:
John Paul: Dad, why does the Philippines give so much attention/importance and reward for the Filipino athletes to win and bring home a Gold Medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games?
Bald Runner: We don’t have any gold medal yet and it is for the country’s national pride.
JP: But you have other Olympic athletes who won medals in the past, why do you need a Gold?
BR: Well, that is the ultimate goal of every counrty to have to be proud of its citizenry.
JP: You don’t need an Olympic Gold Medal for the Philippines to be proud in sports and its people. You have already Manny (Pacquiao), a World Champion in Four Boxing Weight Categories in World’s Boxing Associations/Federations and he carries the name of the Philippines.
BR: The Filipinos are used to have World Champions in Boxing since the time of Pancho Villa, Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, Espinosa, and so many boxers. And lately, we have billiard players and some Grandmasters in Chess. World Championships garnered by Filipinos are already “ordinary” news in the country. Who cares if our amateur bowler Paeng Nepomuceno is included in the Guinness World of Records who had been a World Champion in every decade for the past four decades? He is just a world champion in bowling but never a Gold Medalist in the Olympic Games.
JP: Hmmm…Interesting. The Philippines has a big population of 92 Million but only 15 athletes are qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Why?
BR: Don’t ask me!
JP: Dad, do you think that one of these 15 athletes will bring home a Gold Medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics?
BR: I will post it in my blog about my prediction that the Philippine Olympic Team will not bring home a Gold Medal this time. Our sports officials are very confident that we will win a gold medal this time and I guess, they know more about our athletes than me.
JP: What do you think is the problem in Philippine Sports?
BR: Many! But the solutions are there—political will and funding
JP: Can you do something about it?
BR: How I wish…I am tired and hungry! C’mon, we go directly and drop by at the McDonalds near the house. I need the biggest chicken sandwich, biggest coke, and biggest fries!
JP: Dad, the McDonalds’ Chicken Sandwich “Club” has strips of bacon in it and it might give you a “gout” attack.
BR: Ok, I’ll give the strips to you. What is your order? And for Jovelle’s?
JP: I’ll get the “Double Big Mac” & the biggest Coke and fries. I am hungry, too! I just had my workout at Gold’s Gym! Jovelle has an “organic” pizza at home.
BR: Don’t forget to order Chicken McNuggets for your Mom. Get this money.
JP: Ok
Bald Runner 
interesting conversation!
i don’t have much to say about this. i touched this issue in the previous post. however, i think this is the reality that my own country is facing also…
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I definitely agree with you that our chances of getting a gold this time is slim. You can’t send olympians, expect a gold when you deprive them of proper training.
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My heart aspires for a gold for our dear country but my head tells me it’s just not possible. Well, we can still wish for one and pray for a miracle. And believe it or not, miracles can still happen in this age and time.
Nora, the golden girl
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yes it was an interesting conversation, I’m still asking myself: why does our country can’t get a gold medal….”buti pa India may 1st gold medal na” haaay
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highaltitude, at least, at this time your country had earned already a medal at the 2008 beijing olympics.
taki, it is already a “boring” cycle of blaming one another and coming up with sweet promises and “new” ideas on how we can get that first gold medal. how can you expect your athletes to be good when your coaches and sports officials are not even exercising! have you seen the sports officials and coaches that are in beijing right now? their bodies translate into the present state of our sports program—fat, heavy, and slow!
nora, that is true! but i still believe in the saying, “nasa tao ang gawa, at nasa Diyos ang awa”. miracles happen if you are good and loving to others!
jhunie, the answer/s and solutions for us to have our first olympic gold medal are there but we are simply not doing about it. at least, india has a population of about 1 billion.
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what’s a double big mac? its a big mac that’s twice as big? this sounds good! hehehe 😀
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loony, you are right! it’s 2x the regular big mac. they have it here in the usa since 2006. they have also angus beef mac here! if not for my gout, i could be eating these macs! happy running!
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xxx…Can you do something about it?…xxx
Each time the Olympic Games is nearing, there is a public clamor to overhaul or at least to upgrade the system in the Philippine Olympic Committee for the sole reason… to bring home a gold…
One senator, itago na lang natin sa pangalang Chiz Escudero, mentioned that we should scout from the grassroots level in order to look for talents that could potentially give our country the long- awaited medalla de oro.
The palarong pambansa was an ideal sports program. But later, since corruption runs in the veins to most of our rotten officials, na-corrupt din. Instead of sending the poor talented boy to the unit meet, provincial meet, regional meet and national meet, the less talented children of the school officials were preferred to compete. “Prioritize mo ‘yan ha. Anak ‘yan ni Sir / Ma’am.” We end up defeating the real purpose of scouting from the grassroots. The “muro amis” is another example. These kids dive for a living. Why can’t we develop them in diving or swimming? Instead of diving for coins, why can’t we focus them in diving for gold?
I know the baldrunner can really do something about the system since you were a highly-respected government official. Not to mention your burning passion in the sports world, I believe you also have the political clout…in the name of change…
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Hi, Philipinos, I wish you all the best in your quest to find a gold medal. Here in Kenya we have so many of them, if only Olympics medals could be shared. We would give you one!
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fuerzaarmada, thanks for that correct assessment of our national sports program. we have nice plans, strategy and media releases to improve our sports program but it ends there. why? because there is no political will to sustain and implement such plans and our gov’t would say there is no fund/s allocated for such. i sent a formal letter and followed-up with a meeting with one of our top elected officials to sponsor one of my DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon races but he answered me that such financial support for such sports activity is not included in his budget allocation! this guy is super-rich and he can not even spare 20K pesos from his pocket for a worthy cause in the name of sports? i will campaign against this official in the 2010 presidential elections! btw, i also sent a letter to PSC about this DND-AFP program but they did not even bother to call our contacting number or send us a formal reply. so, we had to do things on our own..fuerza, i am now an ordinary citizen and enjoying my retirement as a runner-blogger and i don’t have that political clout to be heard and followed by our sports officials. i know this blog had reached and inspired so many people already. i am positively sure that I was able to share the overall set-up and relationships of the different sports entities in our national sports program. i might be doing some sports volunteer program in my province soon and that is where i could make a start in implementing some changes in our sports program…mira quita..we’ll see..thanks!
constantine, thanks for the nice gesture but olympic medals are not to be shared. we know that the gold medal is within our reach but we need more commitment and more focused program to olympic sports where we could excel. thanks and good luck on your training.
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