MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Sports Commission is happy with the progress of the national contingent preparing for the 17th Asian Games this September following a positive report by a secret monitoring team.
“We have a monitoring team that goes to all the training venues but the athletes and even the coaches don’t know who these people are,” said PSC chair and Philippine chef de mission Richie Garcia Garcia Monday. “We’ve been getting a favorable report from them.”
It has become a practice for the PSC to strictly oversee the preparation of athletes in high-level tournaments such as the Asian Games and the Olympics but this time their progress is closely monitored secretly.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. said the strength and conditioning program of the Olympic body for the athletes are paying off and could translate into medals in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, set Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.
Cojuangco added the diet and nutrition of the athletes are also being taken care of to ensure maximum output as far as performance is concerned.
A total of 133 athletes from 28 sports are seeking Team PH slots, but the size of the delegation could still be reduced during the final submission of lineup by name in August.
Most of the athletes will train overseas after the PSC has set aside a supplementary budget of P50 million to bankroll their foreign stint.