Ramirez says cramming won’t yield Olympic medal

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics just two years away, Philippine Sports Commission chair Butch Ramirez has brought up the idea of focusing on certain sports that can deliver in the biggest sports gathering on the planet.

“Two years from now, our athletes will again compete in the Olympics and it seems we are scrambling, like always, to get ready and find a suitable hero who could win the first gold medal,” said Ramirez.

“There must be a better way than just always rushing.”

Ramirez said he would like to steer the government sports agency in the direction of focus sports, disciplines where Filipino athletes possess a high probability of winning medals in the global quadrennial event.

Ramirez added that the concept of prioritizing focus sports has not really gained ground because some officials feel left behind once they don’t make it into the magic list.

“This has been done by previous administrations, too,” said Ramirez.

“Maybe there was a bit of misgivings with previous experiences but we recognize the wisdom of this program.”

Different versions of identifying certain sports which the government will fully support have been implemented during past PSC administrations.

After weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz took home a silver medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, both the PSC and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) continue to find ways on how to sustain the success.

“There are around 200 countries that we go against in the Olympics. How do we stand out? How do we make it to the gold podium? How do we get to the point where we go there expecting, not just hoping, for a golden performance?” said Ramirez.

Ramirez has enumerated the many factors to winning such as wealth, politics, population, geography and ideology, among others, but emphasized that “we should be able to pinpoint what factors we could play up, maximize and use to our advantage.”