Tañamor medal chances very good, ex-Olympian says

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines - Elias Recaido Jr. of Bacolod City, the 1996 Atlanta Olympian, believes that lightfly Harry Tañamor has "very good chances of coming home with a medal from the Beijing Olympics." Recaido came home with a gold medal from the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games. He is also a member of the national coaching staff of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP). But Recaido told Sun.Star Bacolod in a telephone interview Thursday the 29 year-old native of Zamboanga City and Philippine Army enlisted man faces a difficult climb for the gold medal. "No doubt Harry is capable of winning the gold medal - he has the talent, the exposure and the heart and although he has defeated 27 other Olympic hopefuls in his class, he still has to get the better of China's world champion Zou Shiming, who beat him 17-3 for the gold during the Aiba world championships last year in Chicago, and Russia's World No. 1 David Aryapetyan," he added. Recaido, who was recently rumored to have been offered a coaching job by the Bacolod City government, also said that aside from the luck of the draw and the lack of sparring partners, Tañamor must also be careful with the climate conditions in Beijing. "Grabe daw ang smog doon dahil sa haze at medyo mahirap maghinga so kailangan mag adjust si Harry at iwasan niya ang pag labas maliban siguro sa pag ja-jogging (The smog there is terrible because of the haze so its quite difficult to breathe that's why Harry needs to adjust well and avoid going out except probably when he's jogging)," the Bacolod native Recaido pointed out. Other than Tañamor, Recaido thinks the country's medal chances rest on taekwondo jins Marie Antoinette Rivero and Tshomlee Go. "I like the chances of Tshomlee. He's focused and he's now 27 so he deserves a perfect retirement package through an Olympic medal. And remember, Tshomlee qualified for Beijing by winning a bronze in the world qualifying in Manchester, England last year. So, he's really ready for this year's Olympics plus, remember that he's a veteran internationalist and he also trained long in Korea." Aside from Tañamor and the taekwondo jins, Recaido said he also feels archer Mark Javier of Dumaguete City deserves a second look. "Maganda ang record ni Javier tsaka kahit medyo mababa ang world ranking, he finished sixth in a field of 122 during the 1st Asian Archery Championships in October last year in China so pwede nating i-consider na long shot ang chance nya for a medal," Recaido added. - Sun.Star Bacolod