THE world championships gold medal-clinching performances of gymnast Carlos Yulo and boxer Nesthy Petecio has prompted Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William Ramirez to think big for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Ramirez made a bold prediction of a Filipino athlete finally winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal.
And his top pick is Yulo, who topped the men’s floor exercise gold medal at the 49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, last Saturday, for the Philippines’s first-ever gymnastics mint on the global stage.
Last year, Yulo clinched a bronze medal in Doha to kick off a career potential of an Olympic gold.
Ramirez also looked optimistic about more Filipino athletes qualifying for Tokyo 2020.
“If we come up with 20 qualified candidates, I think that will be one of the biggest Philippine delegations to the Olympics,” Ramirez said.
Besides the 19-year-old Yulo, pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena already earned a ticket to Tokyo 2020.
Potential Tokyo qualifiers include Rio de Janeiro Olympic weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, boxer Eumir Felix Marcial, and Indonesia Asian Games skateboarding gold medalist Margielyn Didala and judo silver medalist Filipino-Japanese Kiyomi Watanabe.
The Philippines has won 10 Olympic medals, three of them silver from Diaz and boxers Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco (Atlanta 1996) and Anthony Villanueva (Japan 1964).
Image credits: Nonie Reyes