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BEIJING—Like almost everyone else, Rexel Ryan Fabriga is
going for the modest in men’s 10-meter springboard of
diving in the 29th Olympic Games.
“He’s targeting the semifinals, like
everyone else,” said Mark Joseph, president of the
Philippine Amateur Swimming Association. “But it’s a
very tough competition, and he would also be contending
against a Malaysian diver.”
Fabriga is the Southeast Asian (SEA)
Games champion who made it to these Olympics via a
qualifying tournament Beijing hosted in January. He
qualified along with female diver Shiela Mae Perez, who
finished 23rd in the women’s three-meter springboard
last week.
Like in Fabriga’s event, Malaysia had
entries in Perez’s event, Elizabeth Jimie and Leong Mun
Yee, who finished just ahead of the Filipina.
From SEA Games countries, only the
Philippines and Malaysia have qualified divers to these
Olympics.
The Zamboanga native will vie against 29
others in the 10-meter springboard set at the Water
Cube. Also on the start list is 18-year-old Bryan
Nickson Lomas, who intends to give Malaysia its second
medal in the Games after the silver Lee Chong Wei bagged
in badminton’s men’s singles.
Lomas is in his second-consecutive
Olympics. He was 19th in Athens, but owns a
seventh-place finish in the 2007 world championships in
Melbourne, a ninth-place performance in the 2005 edition
in Montreal and a 10th-place effort in 10-meter platform
synchronized also in 2005.
Fabriga distinguishes himself as the
Filipino athlete who waited the longest before plunging
into action in these Games. He arrived August 5 with the
main bulk of the Philippine delegation.
Interestingly, the Games Info, which
provides information on sports, events, athletes and
countries’ backgrounds, among others, stated Fabriga’s
negative experiences since he won for the country its
first diving gold medal in the 2003 Vietnam Southeast
Asian Games.
The general info under the heading
“Bumpy Ride” and sourced from the web site
sunstar.com.ph (December 24, 2003) on Fabriga said:
“After winning an historic first gold medal for the
Philippines at the 2003 SEAG, he was promised free plane
tickets home by the Philippine Sports Commission, but
the tickets never came and he had to take the cheaper,
longer route home to [Davao City] aboard a passenger
ship and a jeepney.”
It furthered (and again quoted from
sunstar.com.ph): “He was given P15,000 (approximate
$280) by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as a reward
for making the city and the country proud of his
gold-medal-winning achievement at the 2003 South East
Asian Games.” --Jun Lomibao |
