CHUN’AN, Zhejang, China — Daniel Patrick Caluag vies in cycling’s BMX Racing on Sunday, October 1, exactly the same day nine years ago when he won the country’s one and only gold medal at the Asian Games’ 17th edition in Incheon, South Korea.

“I remember it as if it was yesterday,” said Caluag on Friday after his second day of testing the track in this city situated 155 kms from the 19th Asian Games main hub of Hangzhou.

He was a young 27-year-old rider coming off his first Olympics in London 2012 and capturing gold at the 2013 Asian championships in Singapore — BMX racing is relatively new on the global stage having been accepted as a medal sport in the Olympics only in Beijing 2008.

“I was heading to my first Asian Games, just after the birth of my daughter, Sydney,” added Caluag, who for his Incheon success was named Athlete of the Year by the Philippine Sportswriters Association.

“I was young, motivated, and hungry for success, eager to be the best in BMX and to put the Philippines on the map,” he said.

On Sunday, he’ll be up against riders many of them a decade younger than him hoping to emerge champion on the Chun’an track — although all BMX tracks follow UCI regulations, no two tracks all over the world are the same.

Caluag flew in three days ago from the US where he works full time as a Registered Nurse like his wife and former coach Stephanie — they were frontliners during the pandemic with Caluag getting himself infected and quarantined for more than a month.

“Now, as I left for the 19th Asian Games, Sydney just turned nine,” he said. “I approach it with much more confidence and understanding.”

He added: “I have nothing and I have much to gain. I am truly blessed to be able to continue to do the thing I love — ride my BMX — at 36 years old, the oldest rider on the track.”

Caluag will be racing on Sunday with fellow Filipino-American, 23-year-old Patrick Coo, who made a name for himself two years ago by winning gold at the Asian championships.

Caluag recalls his experience in London in 2012.

“Heading to London to work with the esteemed Dr. Jason Richardson [former world champion and PanAm Games gold medalist], I was driven to put forth my very best effort,” he said. “While BMX was a fairly new sport to Asia, I was already considered one of the top athletes in the world in the sport. Knowing I had an advantage due to my years of experience, I was more relaxed heading into the Games.”

The start list has yet to be released by the competition organizers but Caluag said he feels relaxed ahead of the event.

“I am more relaxed going into these Games,” he said, adding “It’s hard to measure progress in a changing sport like this, but I am certain I have become older and wiser. In the gym, my numbers have been higher than back in 2012 which gives me hope that I can represent the Philippines with pride and success.”

Philippine Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino agreed BMX in Asia has moved forward by leaps and bounds, but he remains confident Caluag could pull off another surprise — when nobody was looking, Caluag won that one and only gold in 2014.

“I was confident of a medal,” said Tolentino, also president of PhilCycling, of the Incheon experience, adding he felt the gold was achievable because Caluag had his brother CJ Caluag riding as his blocker.

But Tolentino knows how difficult winning in the Asian Games has become.

“Gold is rare in the Asian Games, especially with cycling discipline,” he said. “It is equivalent to blood being spilled during training.”

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PATRICK COO (206) in action in the men’s elite race.

MISFORTUNES struck Daniel Caluag and Patrick Coo as Thailand and Japan took the elite category gold medals and, more importantly, berths to the Paris 2024 Olympics at the close of the Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) BMX Championships at the Tagaytay City BMX Park on Sunday.

Caluag, the Philippines’ sole gold medalist at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games, lost some two seconds when his front wheel got stuck momentarily at the starting gate in the semifinals of the men’s elite race.

The London 2012 Olympian managed to get his desired speed and rhythm at the table top but couldn’t get into the final of the championships calendared by both the International Cycling Union (UCI) and Asian Cycling Confederation and hosted by the PhilCycling and Tagaytay City led by Philippine Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

“Breaks of the game,” said Caluag, 36, who has never ceased to train in the US while juggling his profession as a Registered Nurse—he’s completing his Nursing Administration Masters—and dad to his two daughters and husband to former BMX racer Stephanie, who’s also a nurse in the US.

Coo, a former Asian junior champion, made the final and was in contention to break up front until he was caught in a tight bind also on the table top.

He was unable to squeeze into the front in the process lost his left foot on the pedal and was left behind by the eight-rider final to finish last behind gold medalist Komet Sukpraser.

Sukpraser and women’s elite winner Hatakeyama of Japan earned automatic qualification to the Paris Olympics from the championships witnessed by ACC secretary -general Onkar Singh of India and UCI management committee member Datuk Amarjit Singh of Maalaysia.

Tagaytay City’s hosting of the championships earned praises from both UCI and ACC officials that inspired Tolentino to seek hosting major international competitions in the future.

“It was near perfect,” said Tolentino of the championships. “Near because we missed out on outright qualification for Paris. Breaks indeed.”

Indonesia’s Rio Akbar and Fasya Ahsana Rifki completed the men’s elite podium, while Wanyl Liao of China and Kanami Tanno of Japan finished second and third, respectively, in the women’s elite race.

Also winning on Sunday were Indonesia’s Shifa Maulidina Qotron Nada (women) and Japan’s Hyoga Kiuchi (men) in the junior race and Japan’s Neneka Nishimura (women) and Adiya Fajar Putu Soekarno (men) in the under-23 category.

(ai/mnm)