Training for Olympic hopefuls starts

After a year of planning, the government is ready to roll out its campaign to support elite athletes with high chances of winning Olympic medals.

Philippine Sports Institute national training director Marc Edward Velasco said training would start for athletes handpicked by the Philippine Sports Commission for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.

“We have laid out our plans last year, this year we will begin implementing them,” said Velasco, referring to the PSC’s partnership with Siklab Atleta Pilipinas Foundation to produce the first Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo.

Siklab Atleta Pilipinas Foundation, a brainchild of businessman and Presidential Adviser on Sports Dennis Uy, will be launched early next month featuring at least 20 athletes from 10 sports.

Rio Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, Filipino-Japanese judokas Kiyomi Watanabe and Mariya Takahashi headline the list along with windsurfer Geylord Coveta and gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Kaitlin De Guzman.