Sunday, August 17, 2008 Two RP jins prepare hunt for gold By Frank C. Calapre Sun.Star Correspondent
MANILA—Like true blue-bloodied warriors, Filipino jins Mari Antoinette Rivero and Tshomlee Go expressed readiness to face their respective rivals in the taekwondo competition of the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing.
The two jins had their first afternoon workout alongside some of the competitors at a university in the outskirts of the capital and looked confident for their quest for gold.
“We’ve remained focused and we’re hopeful. We’re ready to go out there and play the game, “ said Rivero after their initial workout.
The two are the only hope for the country’s first Olympic gold after boxer Harry Tañamor lost in the first round of the 48-kilo class last Wednesday.
They were under the watchful eyes of their coaches Kim Hok Sik and Raul Samson, who both nodded in approval when asked of their wards’chances.
“Okay yung ensayo namin kaninang hapon. We saw some of the guys we’re going to fight. Everything turned out well,” said Samson, the long-time Filipino handler of Go and Rivero.
According to them, both Rivero and Go will train for about an hour every day until the eve of the competitions.
The 26-year-old Go, who is on his second Olympic bid, will be the first to take the floor on Aug. 20 in the preliminaries of the men’s 57-kilogram at the University of Science and Technology in Beijing.
The next day, it will be Rivero’s turn to test her mettle in the 57-kg division, the same division she competed as a young 16-year-old in 2004 in Athens, Greece.
Important
What is also important is the drawing of lots at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at the USTB gymnasium, an old school west of the capital city.
POC Chairman Robert Aventajado told Filipino sportswriters in a tele-conference at the PSC Olympics Press Secretariat in Manila that Taipei’s Mu Yenchen and Korea’s Kyung Sun-Hwang are the toughest obstacles to Tshomlee and Rivero, respectively.
Aventajado, who will be arriving in Beijing on Tuesday along with the parents and some relatives of the two jins, said Mu and Kyung have beaten Go and Rivero, respectively in the past tournaments.
During a fight for a championship slot in a world qualifier in Manchester, England in 2007, Go took a terrible beating at the hands of two-time world champion Mu, 0-7.
Demo event
On the other hand, Kyung is best remembered for kicking Rivero out of the medal race in the Athens Olympics by scoring a 6-2 victory in their repechage match for the bronze medal.
Meanwhile, the four Filipino bets in wushu will give everything and go for every honor on the line even if the sport is only a demonstration special event in the Olympiad
Philippine Wushu Federation president Julian Camacho, assured this yesterday in a tele-conference with other Team Philippines official direct from the Olympic Athletes Village.
“They are all ready,” said Camacho of the team, which had been promised monetary reward by President Macapagal-Arroyo when she dropped by at the Village to wish them good luck before leaving for home last week.
“We are not thinking of the reward. We are thinking of what we can do to give honor to our country,” said Camacho, who is also the treasurer of the Philippine Olympic Committee.
“If we are rewarded if we win, we will be thankful. If not, it’s okay with us,” Camacho added.
Leading the four-man squad is reigning world champion Willy Wang, who is seeing action in nanquian or forms and picked as one of the fancied entries in his event.
The three others are Benjie Rivera, Mary Jane Estimar and Marian Mariano, who are seeing action in sanshou or the combat events of the sport which comes off the wraps on Aug. 21. All four Filipino athletes trained for four months in Beijing prior to the Games.
Arianne Cerdena won a gold medal in a demonstration sports of bowling during the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but it was not counted in the medal tally.
Stephen Fernandez and Bea Lucero likewise bagged a bronze medal each in taekwondo when the sports was still an exhibition event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, but these were not counted also in the medal tally.
