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VIGAN—Bryan
Ronquillo couldn’t believe what he saw. After one of his
athletes pointed to the giant medal board, much to
Ronquillo’s surprise, La Union already had three gold
medals.
Ronquillo, La Union’s sports coordinator, said he didn’t
know where they came from.
“We
didn’t even know we had a gymnastics team here,”
Ronquillo said. “[The gymnastics officials] did not
inform us they were coming.”
La Union
came in with 45 athletes, but none of them participated
in gymnastics.
La
Union’s gymnasts picked up three gold medals and one
silver late Monday night. Until noon Tuesday, Ronquillo
hadn’t heard from the gymnasts.
According to Ronquillo, Vicente Flores, an international
judge in gymnastics, was responsible for sending the
gymnasts. Ronquillo rued the fact that Flores did not
inform him they were coming.
“All we
are asking is that we be given a certain measure of
respect,” Ronquillo said. “Their gold medals are an
admirable achievement. But I think protocol was still
breached here.”
Ronquillo said he doesn’t recall any personal grudges
with Flores or any gymnastics officials.
Miscommunication could have been a culprit, he admitted.
La Union apparently was holding its provincial
foundation day around the time the original playdate of
the Philippine Olympic Festival (POF) was set from
February 26 to March 4.
That
forced Ronquillo to advise the POF his team wasn’t
participating in the regional meet.
La Union
received another invitation from the POF again after the
event was reset later. Ronquillo then immediately formed
the team to make the trip here.
“[The
gymnastics team] probably thought we weren’t going to
send a team here, and all I can say now is maybe there
was miscommunication somewhere,” Ronquillo said. “But
that’s not an excuse. The gymnasts know we’re here. I
expect them to keep in touch.” |
