FILIPINO athletes kept their poise, competed with flag and country in mind and exceeded all expectations by emerging overall champion of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
In record fashion, the 1,115-strong Philippine bets delivered 149 gold, 117 silver and 121 bronze medals from the 56 sports played in the 11-day competitions held in three major clusters within Luzon.
The numbers were the highest ever tallied by the country since it began competing in the biennial meet in 1977.
And they were more than enough to clinch for the host its second overall championship in the 11-nation multisport competition known as the Olympics of Southeast Asia.
For that astonishing feat in a December-to-remember, Team Philippines will be bestowed the 2019 Athlete of the Year award in the San Miguel Corp.-Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night.
The traditional gala honoring the top sports heroes and heroines of the year just passed is set on March 6 at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel and is presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, Milo, Cignal TV and the Philippine Basketball Association.
This is the second time the country’s oldest media organization is recognizing the entire Team Philippines as its Athlete of the Year, the first one in 2005 when the Filipinos first won the overall title of the SEA Games the country also hosted.
Olympic silver medal winner Hidilyn Diaz and Asian Games golden girls Margielyn Didal, Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go, all recipients of the Athletes of the Year honor in 2018, are but some of the prominent gold medalists for Team Philippines in the SEA Games, along with world champions Carlos Yulo and Nesthy Petecio and Tokyo Olympic-bound pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena.
“The choice of Team Philippines as 2019 PSA Athlete of the Year has never been as unanimous. And it was felt the least the PSA can do to honor the men and women who brought singular distinction to the country during the 30th SEA Games is to give them one resounding, united vote,” said PSA President Eriberto ”Tito” Talao of the Manila Bulletin.
The Athlete of the Year is the highest honor solely given by the PSA which was first established in 1949 and composed of editors and sportswriters from the different broadsheets, tabloids and sports web sites.
The country sportswriting fraternity will be handing out trophies for the President’s Award, Executive of the Year and National Sports Association of the Year.
There will also be awards for Ms. Basketball, Mr. Volleyball, Ms. Golf, Mr. Football and Coach of the Year.
The PSA will also give out Major Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award, Tony Siddayao Awards, Milo Junior Athletes Awards and Citations to be led by the SEA Games gold medal winners.
Sports personalities who passed away last year will also be accorded with a posthumous recognition.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila