PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino with former pro boxing champion GennadiyGennadyevich Golovkin, or Triple G, at the Athletes Village.

NESTHY PETECIO and Carlo Paalam will be in the forefront as flag-bearers of a 16-member Philippine representation in the never-done-before opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on Friday.

“We’ll be a proud and hopeful 16-strong Team Philippines in the opening ceremony,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino from Paris who won’t be joining the parade of countries and will be sitting in the Olympic Family section on a bank along the Seine River.

Joining the two boxing silver medalists at Tokyo 2020 are their fellow boxers Aira Villegas and Hergie Bacyadan, hurdlers Lauren Hoffman and John Cabang Tolentino, swimmers Kayla Sanchez and Jarrod Hatch, gymnast Aleah Finnegan and fencer Samantha Catantan.

Chef de Mission Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla and sports officials Michael Angelo Vargas (swimming), Marcus Manalo (boxing), Cynthia Carrion Norton (gymnastics), Patrick Gregorio (rowing) and Agapito “Terry” Capistrano (athletics) will also be on the boat assigned for the Philippines in the lavish ceremony that start at 7:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. in Manila).

Tolentino said that boxer Eumir Felix Marcial, gymnast Carlos Yulo and rower Joanie Delgaco will open their campaign on Saturday and won’t be joining the parade as well as  pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena, who wanted to focus more in his pre-games preps in Normandy.

The three weightlifters— Vanessa Sarno, John Febuar Cenizaand Erleen Ann Ando— have yet to conclude their training in Metz and are due at the Olympic Village on August 6, according to Tolentino.

“The schedule of our Olympian athletes have been meticulously crafted by their coaches so there won’t be hitches as they approach their competition days,” said Tolentino, who made the rounds of the Athletes Village after arriving in Paris on Wednesday and got to meet former multiple pro boxing champion Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin, or Triple G, who’s part of the Kazakhstan boxing team.

Completing the 22-athlete Team Philippines are gymnasts Emma Malabuyo and Levi Ruivivar, golfers Bianca Pagdanganand Dottie Ardina and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe.

The Paris Games organizers describe the opening ceremony as “bold, original and unique” that for the first time in Olympichistory, the opening cwill not take place in a stadium but on the Seine River.

The organizers said that parade of athletes will cover 6 kms on the Seine with boats for each national delegation—the boats will be equipped with cameras to allow television and online viewers to see the athletes up close.

IT’S 18 and still counting for the Philippines’ 100th year participation in the Olympics with swimmers Kayla Sanchez and Harold Hatch and judoka Kiyomi Watanade making the grade for Paris.

And the roster could increase to 20 pending the International Golf Federation’s (IGF) official announcement of the Paris qualifiers which, to date, has Bianca Pagdanganan at No. 35 and Dottie Ardina at No. 55 in the top 60 cut off for the Olympics.

“Great news, and we can even ask for more,” said Philippine Olympic Committtee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino from Metz, France, where he’s overseeing the pre-Paris training camp at La Moselle with chef de mission Jonvic Remulla.

“Each day, as the countdown to the Olympics dwindles, the morale goes higher and higher,” Tolentino added.

Sanchez, who switched nationality from Canada only two years ago, will swim in the women’s 100 meters freestyle while Hatch qualified for the men’s 100 butterfly.

Watanabe, on the other hand, will be in her second consecutive Olympics after making through the continental qualification route in women’s -63 kgs.

At 20 athletes, the Philippines already surpassed Tokyo 2020 where Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo won the country’s first Olympic gold medal.

“But we’re expecting more,” said Tolentino as he awaits an official announcement from World Athletics on who will join world No. 2 men’s pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena in Paris.

David Nepomuceno ran the men’s 100 and 200 meters in the Philippines’ Olympic debut in Paris 1924 and participated in every Olympics after that—interrupted only by the boycott of Moscow 1980.

“We’re chasing more history, we’re setting the ante higher,” said Tolentino, whose target is to match or surpass the one gold, two silver and one bronze medals clinched in Tokyo.

The other Filipino qualifies for Paris are weightlifters Vanessa Sarno, John Febuar Ceniza and Elreen Ando; boxers Aira Villegas, Hergie Bacyadan, Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio and Eumir Felix Marcial; rower Joanie Delgaco; fencer Samantha Catantan; and gymnasts Carlos Yulo, Emma Malabuyo and Levi Ruivivar.

THE number of Filipino athletes qualifying for Paris is rising and so is the buildup of excitement as the country braces for its 100th year of participation in the Olympics.

“Eleven, formally, and counting,” said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Bambol Tolentino on Sunday, a day after gymnast Levi Jung-Ruivivar and rower Joanie Delgaco officially became the 10th and 11th Filipino Paris Olympian in a little over a 24-hour span.

Jung-Ruivivar qualified on Friday night at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha where she grabbed a silver medal and enough qualification points to become the third Filipino gymnast to vie in Paris after Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan.

On Sunday morning, Delgaco finished fifth in the 2,000 meters of women’s single sculls at the World Rowing Asian and Oceania Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta and Asian Rowing Cup in Chungju, South Korea, enough to earn a ticket to Paris.

“Congratulations to our new qualified Olympians,” Tolentino also said in his official Facebook page, noting that Delgaco is the first Filipina rower to qualify for the Olympics.

 “Their dedication, perseverance and exceptional talent are an inspiration to us all.”

“The POC extends its heartfelt congratulations and best wishes for continued success as they compete in Paris 2024,” Tolentino said. “The entire Philippines stands behind you.”

Both Jung-Ruivivar and Delgaco are surprise packages in the Olympic qualifiers under a hundred days before the Paris Olympics.

Weightlifter Rosegie Ramos is unofficially the 12th Filipino to qualify for Paris pending the International Weightlifting Federation’s official announcement of the roster for the Games.

The country is also guaranteed three qualifiers—one in athletics and two in swimming—under the universality rule making the Filipino Olympian count unofficially at 15.

“We expect more of our athletes to be in Paris as the qualifiers in various sports are still being conducted,” Tolentino said.

Also qualified for Paris are pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena, boxers Eumir Felix Marcial, Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas and weightlifters Vanessa Sarno, Erleen Ann Ando and John Febuar Ceniza.

MANILA — The crisis at the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) is finally over with the election of members of the federation’s board of trustees as prescribed by the International Federation (ITF) through the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has been set for December 11 at the Century Park Hotel in Manila.

POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino expressed relief over the resolution of the Philta crisis which started on December 3, 2020 when the ITF suspended the national sports association. (NSA).

The ITF suspension was borne out of what the world governing body deemed as the Philta’s board of trustees (BOT) having an “exclusive membership” and not a regional representation.

As a result, the ITF sought the POC to create an ad hoc body to oversee operations of the Philta while revising the NSA’s charter that hinges on a membership bordering on a genuine nationwide representation.

The ITF put its imprimatur recently on the NSA’s amended by-laws through its senior legal counsel Hannah McLean and Thomas Needham with the election of the new members of the board of trustees specifically set before the year ends.

“It’s a crisis that dragged on for years and we are glad that the ITF has commented on the amended by-laws and gave the Philta a path back to recognition,” Tolentino said.

POC deputy head of legal Atty. Billy Sumagui and NSA caretaker Ramon “Tats” Suzara led the amendment of the by-laws that now require the Philta BOT to have 13 members from geographic sectors consisting of the country’s various regions.

The amended by-laws were based on the original 1955 and revised 2020 Philta by-laws, ITF constitution, Hongkong Tennis Association by-laws, The Rule of Tennis and the Philippine Corporate Law.

(ai/mnm)

FILIPINO athletes vying in two major multi-sport continental competitions that were either canceled or postponed have no choice but to reboot, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said on Sunday.

The Association of National Olympic Committees, or ANOC, to which the POC is a member, canceled the World Beach Games set for August 5 to 15 in Bali after the Indonesian government pulled the budget from the 14-sport games only last July 4.

And on Saturday, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced that the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) set for November 17 to 26 in Bangkok and Chonburi were moved to February 24 to March 8 next year.

The OCA, which held its elections also on Saturday in Bangkok with Kuwaiti Sheikh Talal Fahad Al-Sabah winning as president by only four votes (24-20), said the AIMAG was also canceled because of budget concerns and that Thailand is transitioning to a new government administration.

“These are beyond our control. I understand the sentiments of our athletes but this is something that we don’t have a choice about,” Tolentino said. “But as athletes, I trust them to make the adjustments.”

According to Tolentino, Many Filipino athletes who’re supposed to be in Bali or AIMAG are also on the delegation to the Hangzhou Asian Games set for September 23 to October 8.

“They can totally focus on the Asian Games, the biggest competition in Asia,” he said.

Two Filipino surfers—Jay-R Esquivel and Aping Agudo—have so far made the grade for the second edition of the World Beach Games.

They gained qualification via the world championships in El Salvador last month.

“We’ve been working so hard in the past few weeks [in San Jose, La Union] and then we found out that the event was canceled,” Esquivel said. “We’re all sad and disappointed but there’s nothing we can do.”

The ANOC has yet to announce a new host and dates for the World Beach Games, the second global sports event after the FIFA Under-20 World Cup that Indonesia dropped at the 11th hour. (ai/mnm)