Monday, May 12, 2008 Padilla: Olympic friendship torch radiates warmth from icy Mt. Everest summit By Nars Padilla Sportscope
REGARDLESS of race, religion and government idiosyncrasies let us for a moment in the spirit of sports and sportsmanship pause and in unison congratulate the Beijing Olympic host for the historic and unprecedented success of the Olympic torch run staged at Mount Everest last Thursday.
In a nutshell, the Olympic flame completed its climb to the roof of the world; thanks to the 19 members of the Chinese mountaineering team for their valor and spectacular feat.
The triumph which is anchored on the Olympic theme "One World, One Dream," was accomplished with a flourish notwithstanding the several protests against the forthcoming international sports conclave on August this year.
Clearly, the evils of politics have crept into the world of sports!
There were at least five torch bearers in the final stretch of the hazardous climb. The fifth and the final torch bearers were a Tibetan woman named Cering Wangmo whose ceremonial participation showcased the importance of Tibet as part of China, host for the Olympics. Mount Everest is located in Tibet.
If I had my say, the Olympic torch friendship trek to the peak of the world should be included and recorded in the Guinness Book of records as a premier and exemplary sports event.
By and large, the once-in-a-lifetime athletic episode should also be part of Ripley's "Believe It or Not," human interest feature and historical series.
By any yardstick, the torch run on Mount Everest showcased and demonstrated the ingenuity, friendship and sincerity of purpose by the Olympic organizers.
The ceremonial lighting of the friendship torch at Mt. Olympia, Greece, several weeks ago and the rekindling of the light at Mount Everest last Thursday is not only symbolic!
Over and above, it dramatized vividly the need to keep for eternity the warmth and radiance of the Olympic friendship flame sacred and universal! And most of all, free from greed and politics.
We had plans to go to Beijing for the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, the turn of events muffled our dream. That dream passed away with the late businessman-civic leader Conrado Romero of U-Need Grocery who then invited us to join him and his entourage to the Beijing Olympics.
On my humble part, I have no regrets that the trip was blown away by the four winds. I can only thank him for his very generous gesture while I will continue to pray for the eternal repose of his soul in the Vineyard of the Lord.
China, even as a communist country but a very prosperous nation will always have a soft spot in my heart. We had the rare opportunity to visit Guangzhou, Beijing, Nanking, Shianghai, Hangzhou, Canton and Hong Kong before the "Iron Curtain" in China was lifted.
Modesty aside, yours truly played a vital role as secretary-general of the First City of Baguio Friendship Cultural Mission to the Peoples' Republic of China (Proc) way back in 1979.
Upon the direction and authorization of the late City Mayor Luis Lardizabal, your friend as City Tourism Director then prepared and followed up with Malacañang Palace and the Proc Embassy in Manila the required travel documents for the delegation headed by former City Councilor Edilberto Tenefrancia.
The trip was jointly sponsored by the City Government, the Association for Philippine-China Understanding, Baguio chapter in coordination with the Proc's Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (Cpafec) then headed by the Honorable Wang Ben Nang.
One of the most notable and worthy achievements of the Baguio 12-man delegation was the initiation of the present "sisterhood link" between the City of Baguio and the City of Hangzhou. The rest of the checkered journey to China is now part of history.
The eighth Asian Wushu Championships will be held in Macau form May 14-17. A core of Pinoy warriors which include Baguio international players presently training in China for the Beijing Olympics are with TEAM PHILIPPINES.
The foursome is Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Marianne Mariano, silver medalist Benjie Rivera, Taulo silver medalist Daniel Parantac and up-and-coming wushu ace Jayson Domingo.
The cast travels to various key training centers in China honing their skills for the Olympics where wushu will be a demonstration sport.
Tony Candelaria, president of the Wushu Federation of the Philippines, Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) Chapter who passed on the good news to me on Sunday said he will join the RP squad with last minute recruit Mark Eddiva and judge-referee Mark Sangiao in time for the hostilities.
Tony, my esteemed friend expressed optimism that his wards will be in the medal row of achievers.
About 500 wushu and taulo competitors from the Asian Region representing the cream of the crop of their respective countries will be out there questing for fame, glory and prestige.
Also from the 14th to the 17th, the CAR Table Tennis Association with Nico Cawed at the helm will host a National Invitational TT championship billed at the Baguio Convention Center.
Close to 300 "ping pong" players form all over the country will see action in the bonanza sportsfest. Nico said CAR will field two teams. Baguio Team A includes Don Paule, Luisito Ramirez, Rommelia Princess Tambo and himself. Baguio Team B racketeers are Chester Tuzon, Kevin Garcia, Adrian dela Cruz and Ronnie Genese.
The four-day game series will focus on the singles men and women divisions, team event, 17 and 13 under for boys and girls and the Cordillera close event for Cordi residents.
Up for grabs are cash incentives and trophy prizes for the top winners. Welcome and good luck to all the participants!
