PH shooter is country’s 12th Olympian

A second-generation shooter made it to Team Philippines bound for Tokyo Olympics, getting a free pass via the international federation quota places.

Jayson Valdez, son of three-time Southeast Asian Games champion Julius Valdez, booked an Olympic berth—the first for a Filipino shooter since London 2012.

The 25-year-old Valdez will compete in the air rifle 10-meter, the same event where his father competed during his time.

“I received an urgent message last night from ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) in Germany,” said Jayson in a statement. “They asked me if was ready, so I replied ‘yes, we’re ready,’ so they gave me the quota.”

Valdez becomes the 12th Filipino Olympian for the Games set to start on July 23.

Golfers like US Open women’s champion Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Juvic Pagunsan are also expected to qualify along with judo’s Kiyomi Watanabe.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Bambol Tolentino was elated with Valdez’s entry and described the shooter as a world contender.

“That’s an additional chance for us. Good thing there’s a quota qualifying in shooting, and the better thing, we have a world ranking athlete, also a scholar of the POC,” Tolentino said.

In 2012, Paul Bryan Rosario made the cut in men’s skeet as a wild card entry. INQ