Monday, August 18, 2008 Still no breakthrough for RP
THE woes compounding Team Philippines in the Beijing Games are not about to stop, with long-jumper Henry Dagmil becoming the latest Filipino athlete to crash out in the face of world-class competition.
Dagmil placed only 34th in a field of 38 finishers and missed a slot in the final round following a dismal performance. He only managed to clear 7.58m, which is way, way off his best mark of 7.99m.
So, Dagmil not only was able to land a finals berth but also failed to improve his own record, making him the latest RP athlete to hit the sidelines.
Earlier, archer Eric Ang, archer Mark Javier, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, boxer Harry Tañamor and diver Sheila Mae Perez had their own bids in the quadrennial meet but stumbled one after the other in the preliminaries of their respective events. Ang and Diaz didn't actually perform bad as they were able to set new RP standards and personal marks.
The swimmers also failed, but some of them either improved their personal records or broke national records like James Walsh, Christel Simms, Miguel Molina and Daniel Oakley.
Another diver, Rexel Ryan Fabriga, will make his Olympics debut on August 22 in the men's 10m platform at the National Aquatics Center.
But, with the Beijing Games heading towards culmination, the burden of giving the country a medal now lie on taekwondo jins Tshomlee Go and Mary Antoinette Rivero, who will both see action next week.
RP officials are confident both Go and Rivero can land a medal, saying they have prepared them well for the tough competition ahead. Both jins are Athens Games veteran who can give the country a medal if they perform well. (CRAM)
