Filipino gymnast funds own US training

MANILA, Philippines – Amanda Louise Alejandrino, a member of the Philippine women's artistic gymnastics team, will start training in Texas this May. The Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) on Friday said that Alejandrino will join her coach Cintamoni “Tammy" De Guzman in training at the Women's Elite Level Gymnastics in Dallas. GAP said Alejandrino and De Guzman are funding their own training. “All the RP gymnastics team members would want to train and compete abroad because those are the ways to get our ranking up. Sadly, the athletes and the sport, in general, are not getting enough support from the rightful quarters even though gymnastics is a potentially medal-rich event," Alejandrino said. Alejandrino added that he is hoping that the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) will focus on pursuing the welfare of elite athletes in the country. “Now that the re-organization in the top brass of local sports has stabilized, I hope that they will look into the state of Philippine gymnastics. We are also their athletes. We are quite as capable of bringing honor to the country given the proper training and financial support. We ARE as patriotic as the rest of the Filipino athletes can be," Alejandrino stated. – GMANews.TV