The D Spot

25 August 2008
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR PHILIPPINE CONTINGENT
Congratulations to our 15 Pinoy athletes. They may come home medal-less, but nevertheless, the fact that they are already the best in our country is achievement enough for them. And a lot of them did break their personal records, and a number of them, records in the SEAG. They did their utmost best.

Let the Olympic Spirit live on–Friendship, Fair Play, Honor, and Glory. Borrowing the words from the founder of modern day Olympics, Pierre de Couertin, “The most important thing in the Olympic games is not winning, but to take part.” But of course, we cannot just be content in taking part.

Train now (or maybe years before?) for London in 2012. Our athletes really need all the support that they need: training (physical, mental and psychological–ingrain in them a killer instinct), training venues, better nutrition, athlete’s accommodations, etc. Train them to win not for the money offered by the officials, but to bring glory to the country. Let there be minimal travel for non-essential officials. Pour the meager money on the improvement of the training facilities and support of the athletes.

If our Asian neighbors–Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam (even war-torn Afghanistan got a bronze, in only in its 2nd Olympics), CAN, why can’t we?

MEDALS OF THE PHILIPPINE WUSHU TEAM
Mary Jane Estimar tried to fight with a swell in her ankle which did not subside 2 hours before the competition, and before the start of the 2nd round of the 52 kg class sanshou (combat) event, withdrew from the games. She got the silver. She got 2 standing ovations–when she was hugged and given a victory lift by her Chinese rival, and when she was awarded the silver medal.

The wushu team will come home with 4 medals:  Gold by Willy Wang, Silver by Mary Jane Estimar and Bronzes by Benjie Rivera and Marianne Mariano.

24 August 2008

Mary Jane Estimar, despite a minor injury, defeated her Iranian rival yesterday, 2-1, to advance to the gold medal round of the Beijing Wushu Championship today, Sunday.

Benjie Rivera and Marianne Mariano settled for bronze, after they lost to in the semifinal rounds of the 56 kg class and 60 kg class, respectively.

23 August 2008

Let us be proud of Willy Wang–he won the gold medal in the combined events of men’s nanquan and nangun (bare fists) yesterday.

Wushu is only a demonstration sport, so Wang’s victory will not count in the regular medal standings.

Two more athletes from the Philippines, Benjie Rivera and Mary Jane Estimar, won bronze medals in the demonstration sport after they defeated their opening-phase opponents also on Friday.

Rivera beat Kamel Mohamed of Egypt 2-0 in the men’s 56kg sanshou (combat) event, while Estimar won over Ambra Vielmi of Italy 2-1 in the 52kg sanshou.

Remember the gold medal won by Arianne Cerdeña in the 1988 Seoul Olympics for bowling? The medal did not count because bowling was an exhibition sport.

Photocredit: here

22 August 2008
Taekwondo jin Antoinette Rivero did not make it to the next round when she lost to her rival Croatian Sandra Saric, with a score of 4-1.

Diver Ryan Rexel Fabriga also did not make it to the qualifying round in the 10-meter platform diving.

21 August 2008
The last remaining bets for an Olympic medal are taekwondo jin Antoinette Rivero and diver Ryan Rexel Fabriga. Tomorrow Rivero will trade blows with Croatian Sandra Saric in the round of 16 of the welterweight division in the quadrennial meet.

Fabriga will compete with the world class Chinese divers when he steps in the diving platform 10 meters up above the water in the men’s individual competition which will start at 5:30 pm at the Water Cube.

The 4-member wushu team, led by world champion Willy Wang, will compete today in a special event, but the winners will not count in the bronze-silver-gold medal tally.

20 August 2008
Tshomlee Go lost to Australian taekwondo champion Ryan Carneli in the first round of the flyweight (67 kg) class today. Same with Tshomlee Go, who lost to his Australian component in the first round of the flyweight (67 kg) class. Go and his coaches waited until 4:45 pm to see the outcome of the quarterfinals bout between Carneli and Thai Chutchwal Khawlaor to know if Go would qualify for the repechage. The Thai defeated the Australian, ending Go’s bid for a bronze.

19 August 2008
Marestella Torres was not able to move to the next round in today’s women’s long jump event.

Tshomlee Go faces Australian taekwondo champion Ryan Carneli in the first round of the flyweight (67 kg) class tomorrow at 10 am. A win will send him to the quarterfinals two hours later. Three more wins: in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final will give him the gold by the end of the day.

Antoinette Rivero faces former tormentor in taekwondo, Croatian Sandra Saric in the first round on Friday, 22 August. A win will send her to the quarterfinals, probably with Korean 2-time world champion Hwang Kyung-seon.

18 August 2008
Only 3 athletes remain, quietly preparing for the country’s quest for medals– Marestella Torres on 19 August for long jumping,  Tshomlee Go and Antoinette Rivero in taekwondo, on 20 August in the 58-kg division, and on 22 August in the 67-kg division, respectively, and diver Ryan Rexel Fabriga in the 10m platform diving.

Yesterday could have included the Philippines in the finals of with women’s springboard diving and the women’s 50m freestyle nd men’s 1,500m freestyle in swimming. However, Sheila Mae Perez did not make it to the second round. Ryan Arabejo (on his way to the pool) and Christel Simms (before he bended at the start of the 50m freestyle), ripped their swimsuits and were not able to break their own personal records.

Henry Dagmit finished 18th in the long jump category and did not make it to the first 12th who went for the next round.

16 August 2008
Ryan Arabejo made it in the qualifying round on the 1,500m freestyle in swimming.

Sheila Mae Perez was 23rd among 30 competitors in women’s platform driving, but did not make it to the qualifying round.

15 August 2008
So far, seven down for the Philippine contingent, with eight more remaining to compete for the elusive Olympic gold:

Simms in the 50m freestyle and Ryan Arabejo in the 1,500m freestyle in swimming, both today;

Sheila Mae Perez in women’s platform driving;

Ryan Rexel Fabriga in the 10m platform diving;

long jumpers Henry Dagmil and Marestella Torres, on 18 and 19 August, respectively.

Tshomlee Go and Antoinette Rivero in taekwondo, on 20 August in the 58-kg division, and on 22 August in the 67-kg division, respectively.

14 August 2008
Hawaii-based Daniel Coakley set a new Philippine and SEAG standard in the 50-m freestyle. He was 39th place overall, .56 of a second behind the cut of time of 22.17.

Four new Philippine marks for swimming have been set so far, (1) Coakley’s 22.69 seconds to break the Philippine record of 22.80 that he himself set in the 2005 SEA Games in Manila; (2) James Walsh’s 1:59.39 in the 200m butterfly; (3) Christel Simm’s 56:16 in the 100m freestyle; and (4) Miguel Molina’s 2:01.69 in the 200m individual relay.

13 August 2008
Harry Tanamor lost to Ghana’s Manyo Plange in the lightweight division in boxing, at the Beijing Workers’ Stadium.

Miguel Molina, finished 6th in his heat and missed his Philippine record by a hairline (0.32 of a sec) as he splashed out of the 200m breaststroke heats last Tuesday.

He will play his favorite 200 meter IM today and hopes to break his RP and SEAG marks of 2:03.57

Christel Simms will see action in the 100m freestyle, while Mark Javier will see action in the first round, individual event in archery.

12 August 2008

I got this email from a former office mate who is now based in the US. In case you are not aware, a member of the US Olympic swim team is a Filipina and looks Filipina when she wears her swim cap, although  she is blond and has blue eyes. I learned about it two days ago when my wife’s cousin and her husband from San Francisco came to town. She is Natalie Coughlin and is 1/4th Filipino. Her grandma is 100% Filipino married to an American. Her mother, 50% Filipino married also an American and thus Natalie, the daughter is 25% Filipino. She eats pancit and lumpia when she attends get-together parties with her relatives in the San Francisco bay area. She is the niece of the husband of my wife’s cousin. Sort of circuitous relationship but definitely Natalie is related to all of us Filipinos. Please take a moment to cheer for her during her best event—the 100 meter backstroke which will be shown on TV live tonight.–Rodney

REJOINDER: Natalie won the gold medal in the 100 meter backstroke in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was able to defend her title (after having won the gold in the Athens Olympics 4 years ago). As we watch the event including the award ceremonies, her Filipina features stand out. We cheer her accomplishments as also our own.–Rodney Tucay

From Wikipedia:

Natalie Anne Coughlin (born August 23, 1982 in Vallejo, California) is a American swimmer who has represented the United States at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, and at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. She won multiple medals at both of these Games and became the first woman ever to win a 100m backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. She is known for her dominance in a short course pool and for her underwater kicking ability. She currently holds World, American and US Open records in various events.Coughlin lives in Lafayette, California and originally from Concord, California and is of Filipino and Irish heritage.

As of April 2008, she is engaged to Crow Canyon Sharks coach Ethan Hall; they are planning an April 2009 wedding.Prior to the 2004 Olympics, she was a student-athlete at Carondelet High School in Concord CA, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California, then later at the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a BA in psychology in 2005. She had won twelve National Collegiate Athletic Association Swimmer of the Year honors in her first three years at the university. Coughlin worked as an in-studio host for MSNBC during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

Photocredit:  from Google Images

11 August 2008 (Monday)
Two-time Olympian, James Walsh‘s time in the 200m butterfly was short to earn a medal, but he set a SE Asian record–he entered a realm that no Southeast Asian swimmer has been to before: the under two-minute barrier in Olympic competition. He clocked one minute and 59.39 seconds and ended up first in his heat Monday to break both his personal and the Philippine records which were his pre-tournament goals. He ranked 29th of 44 aspirants, with Michael Phelps of the US emerging on top of the qualifiers with an Olympic record-breaking time. His time was lower than 2 other SE Asian aspirants–from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Hidilyn Diaz broke the Philippine record and surpassed her qualifying total (186) in women’s 58kg weightlifting.

Miguel Molina, the next RP swimmer to see action, said he would be looking to better his clocking in the 200m breaststroke heats Tuesday.

SCHEDULES OF FILIPINO PLAYERS:

11 August 2008, Monday
– Female lifter Hidilyn Diazwill compete in the 48-kilogram class at the University of Aeronautics and Astronautics gymnasium at noon

– Swimmer James Walsh will plunge into action at 7:08 p.m. in the 200-meter butterfly.

12 August 2008, Tuesday
– Miguel Molina, the Southeast Asian Games’ best male athlete, will open his bid in one of the eight heats of the 200m breaststroke at the National Aquatics Center.

13 August 2008, Wednesday
– Archer Mark Javier, who finished 36th in the ranking round of the men’s individual Fita 70-meter event last Saturday, will play a knockout match with Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Cheng-wei at the Beijing Green Archery Field

– Light flyweight Harry Tañamor will see action for the first time in the boxing competition against Ghana’s Manyo Plange at the Beijing Workers’ Stadium. The 29-year-old Tañamor has been installed the favorite to beat the Ghanaian by oddsmakers of the International Boxing Federation.

10 August 2008
Our ASEAN neighbors today won 3 medals in weightlifting: A Gold from Thailand’s JAROENRATTANATARAKOON Prapawadee in the Women’s 53kg competition, a Silver and a Bronze from VietNam’s HOANG Anh Tuan and Indonesia’s IRAWAN Eko Yuli, respectively, from the Men’s 56kg competition.

9 August 2006
Archer Mark Javier finished 36th among 64 competitors in the men’s individual archery competition, with a score of 654 for 2 sets of 36 arrows each. He is now qualified to the first round of knock out phase in the same venue, the Beijing Olympic Games Archery Range on 13 August. Javier broke his Philippine record of 331 with 333 in his second set of 36 arrows; he had 321 in the first set.

Shooter Eric Ong was not able to make it to the third elimination round. He did not fare well in the first round, but he almost made a perfect second round had he not miscalculated one shot. He finished only joint 29th, and was not qualified to the third round.

Swimmer Miguel Molina was pulled out from the 200-meter freestyle competition at the magnificent Water Cube aquatics venue.

8 August 2006.
Manny Pacquiao led Team Philippines during the opening ceremonies at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest.

6 August 2006.
The 29th Summer Olympics will take off in Beijing on 8 August 2008 (08-08-08) and conclude on 24 August. Most of the members of Team Philippines arrived in Beijing yesterday, in high spirits, and ready to compete for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The 15-person Team includes:

Archer: Mark Javier

Boxing: Harry Tañamor

Divers: Sheila Mae Perez and Ryan Rexel Fabriga

Long Jumpers: Marestella Torres and Henry Dagmil

Shooter: Eric Ang

Swimmers: Miguel Molina, James Walsh, Joan Christel Simms, Ryan Arabejo and Daniel Coakley

Taekwondo Jins: Antoinette Rivero and Tshomlee Go

Weightlifter: Hidilyn Diaz

Their coaches, doctors and local Olympic officials are part of the official group. They will be joined tomorrow by Philippine Olympic Committee President, Jose (Peping) Cojuangco Jr and flag bearer, Manny Pacquiao (and his wife Jinkee) and President GMA (with First Gentleman), the first Chief Executive who will join an Olympic opening. Philippine Sports Commission chair William “Butch” Ramirez and Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan will also join the group leaving Manila on 7 August. It will be surely tough, but the athletes have prepared for this, training hard in different countries that excelled in the different sports. Let’s watch them play, be ready to cheer for them, and pray for them.

Filipino, a Grand Prize Winner for Sculpture in the international Sport and Art Contest

Incidentally, even before the opening of the Summer Olympics, we are already proud of Filipino sculptor Joe Datuin, who won the grand prize for sculpture in the international Sport and Art Contest in connection with the 2008 Beijing Olympics for his entry, a stainless-steel work tthat reinterprets the traditional Olympic logo into a flight of the athletic spirit. His “Dancing Rings” recast the traditional horizontal Olympic logo into a vertical leap of faith, similar to a gymnast or a classical dancer in action, signifying both human grace and human solidarity. POC art coordinator and top sculptor Ramon Orlina said, “We’ve struck gold even before the Beijing games have opened.” Incidentally, Jo is a neighbor (our houses are back to back) and is a good friend’s brother-in-law. Over the years, we have seen his fine works of art in his home. CONGRATULATIONS, JOE! Photocredit:  ABS CBN Online News.

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