PSC chairman believes PH has chance to win gold in Tokyo Olympics

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William ‘Butch’ Ramirez is upbeat about the chances of the Philippine contingent to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics set to begin later this month.

In a guest appearance on the PSC Hour radio program on Friday, Ramirez expressed his excitement and even stated his belief that there could be a chance at a gold medal coming in this edition of the quadrennial games.

"I'm so excited for the result of the hard work of the athletes, coaches, and NSAs on this journey to Tokyo Olympics in this pandemic,” Ramirez said.

“Ang ating expectation maka-medalya talaga tayo. Ang aking pananaw, since we have 19 athletes, malamang meron tayong isa, dalawa, tatlo na pwede siyang mag-gold, pwede siya mag-silver, pwedeng mag-medals. But there are other upcoming athletes na baguhan na baka makagawa ng surprises,” he added.

There are currently 19 Filipino athletes set to compete in the Tokyo edition.
The delegation is currently composed of EJ Obiena (pole vault), Carlos Yulo (gymnastics), Hidilyn Diaz and Elreen Ando (weightlifting), Eumir Marcial, Irish Magno, Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio (boxing), Cris Nievarez (rowing), Kurt Barbosa (taekwondo), Margielyn Didal (skateboarding), Jayson Valdez (shooting), Kiyomi Watanabe (judo), Kristina Knott (track and field), Juvic Pagunsan, Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan (golf) and Luke Gebbie and Remedy Rule (swimming).

To win a gold medal, though, Ramirez said that there are a lot of factors that will go into that. Aside from talent, coaching, and exposure, there may need to be serendipity.

He also shared that preparation for these Olympics have been ongoing since the 2016 Rio Games, and the PSC has spent around P2 billon on the national athletes since that time.

—JMB, GMA News