05/08/2021
The historic gold
On the very same day the President was touting his administration’s war on drugs and corruption, a Zamboangeña—whom his administration tagged a few years back as part of the plot to oust the president and linking her with drugs—was busy in Tokyo winning and bringing home the very first Olympic gold medal that the country has won since it participated in Olympics in 1926.
It is believed that the Olympic games traces its roots in 776 B.C. as a religious festival celebrated by the Greeks along with other states. Its revival in 1896 and then the subsequent commercialization and expansion into other games and including more countries made the event more prestigious. Consequently, the gold medal won by the athletes became more desirable in different disciplines. Accordingly, Tokyo 2020 hosted 339 events in 33 sports, and 205 countries sent their own delegations.
Understandably, the richest countries with the most financial support to their athletes and with the best sport facilities in the world have gathered the greatest number of medals over history. This includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France, and more recently China. For this reason, and up against athletes from these countries, winning the gold despite the lack of support and facilities has become an even more meaningful feat.
While a certain politician is highly criticized for stating that women are not fit or capable to hold the highest political position in the country, Hidilyn Diaz’s win gives a message of hope to all Filipinos, but more so to women. Hidilyn was up against a strong Chinese competitor, but she was not intimidated. The country’s leaders can learn from her bravery and self-trust that even face-to-face with a formidable opponent, Filipinos can win.
There are still more Filipinos who are still in the race to gold in other games. They have all given much pride to the Filipinos. May this unity and pride solidify and translate to confidence that Filipinos are also very much capable of performing with world-class quality, strength, and can do so much better in different fields.
