They dominated their own lanes—Paquito Rivas on the road as he pedaled to greatness in a bike race that was a test of manhood as it was of endurance; Bong Coo on bowling alleys of the world, displaying the class and steely nerve that made her a legend.
Yet, their paths crossed once before. In 1979, both athletes found themselves in newspaper headlines for dominating their disciplines.
Coo, now 70, won the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup (formerly the International Masters and AMF Bowling World Cup) in Bangkok, Thailand. The champion she supplanted, compatriot Lita Dela Rosa, later shared the podium with her as the pair bagged the doubles gold in the 1979 World Championships in Manila.
Under harsher conditions, Rivas, now 73, stole the spotlight when he ruled the 1979 Tour on legs packed with mountain-scaling power, a skill that earned him the undisputed title of “Eagle of the Mountain.”
On Feb. 26, their paths will meet again.
Coo and Rivas will share the stage in the SMC-Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night, recipients of the Lifetime Achievement award, an honor that will be bestowed them for more than just their 1979 heroics.
The two will be feted at The Manila Hotel, where golfers Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and LK Go, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and skateboarder Margielyn Didal will be feted as Athletes of the Year—an award Coo has won four times.
The event will be presented by Milo, the Philippine Sports Commission, and Cignal TV.
After retirement, Rivas still involved himself in local races and is now race manager of the UCI-sanctioned Le Tour de Filipinas.
Meanwhile, just last November, Coo, Dela Rosa and bowling legend Paeng Nepomuceno were inducted into the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame.