Jerrold Pete Mangliwan poses with the Philippine flag in the background. He carries the PH red-white-and-blue in the opening ceremonies of the Paralympic Games. —PHILIPPINE PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE
MANILA, Philippines—Jerrold Mangliwan’s first race in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games will be more personal than anything else.
The country’s flag bearer will dedicate his performance in the men’s 400-meter T52 to his coach Joel Deriada who was left behind in the Philippines on the eve of the contingent’s departure to Japan after testing positive for COVID-19.
“This one is for my coach,” said Mangliwan. “He may have been left behind but I will try my hardest to get to the finals and give honor to our country. This run is for coach Joel.”
A medal round spot can be quickly secured if Mangliwan finishes in the top three in Heat 1 of the men’s 400m T52.
In the event that Mangliwan finishes outside of the top three in his heat, his best chance of qualifying will be if he runs one of the two fastest times across preliminaries.
Deriada, who also coached Mangliwan at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, said Mangliwan should use what happened to him as motivation.
“I told Jerrold that there are some things that we might not understand but to use what happened to me as added motivation to do his best,” said Deriada.
“He [Mangliwan] shouldn’t lose hope. We may not understand what happened, but I believe that it will be for the good of all of us.”