Southeast Asian Games – Artistic Gymnastics – Olympic Marquee, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – May 9, 2023 Philippines’ John Ivan Cruz celebrates winning the men’s floor exercise final with the gold medal on the podium REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
PHNOM PENH—John Ivan Cruz steps on the mat almost daily the past two years with lifting his family out of poverty in mind.
The Filipino floor exercise specialist will have something that his family can start with after clinching a gold medal at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games on Tuesday.
“Life is difficult back in the Philippines, but all the sacrifices and the hardships in training are all worth it,’’ said Cruz, a son of a pedicab driver and a street vendor from Malate, Manila, said in Filipino.
“We are so poor back home that my siblings had to stay at home. Now, I can finally send them to school,’’ added the 21-year-old Cruz, the eldest in a brood of seven.
Aside from his gold in the men’s floor in artistic gymnastics, Cruz likewise helped the men’s team, led by star Carlos Yulo, in nailing a silver medal on Monday.
He will be at least P300,000 richer, the worth of a gold medal in the SEA Games that the government will reward him through the Philippine Sports Commission plus a share from the P150,000 of the five-man, silver-performing men’s squad.
Cruz burst into tears after the final scores flashed across the LED screen at National Stadium here, emotional after he earned the approval of the judges with 13.850 points for an almost impeccable routine.
WATCH: John Ivan Cruz in the men's artistic gymnastics floor exercise finals in the #SEAGames2023. | @junavINQ pic.twitter.com/gO2nWSHequ
— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) May 9, 2023
“This is my biggest win. I never thought I could get this far. Two years ago, I was forced to stop training with the national team to help my family financially,’’ said Cruz, who finished high school at Araullo before he began looking for resources to improve the family’s livelihood.
There were seven finalists in the floor event, with Thailand’s Tikumporn Surintornta pocketing the silver with 13.800 points while winding up with the bronze was Indonesia’s Joseph Hatoguan (13.500).
The coaches handpicked Cruz to compete in the floor and got valuable pointers from Yulo, the 2019 world champion in men’s floor exercise.
“He (Yulo) told me not to think about the medal. Just do your best and everything will follow,’’ said Cruz, a part of the men’s team that collared a silver medal in the Hanoi SEA Games last year.
With the contribution of Cruz, the men’s gymnastics squad will bring home four gold medals, with two of them coming from Yulo in the individual all-around and parallel bars and Juancho Miguel Besana in the vault.
“I can’t explain this feeling that I have. I’m super blessed. God gave me this opportunity, so I can take care of my family,’’ said Cruz, whose next stop is the Asian championships in Singapore next month.