Olympic-bound shooter Jayson Valdez reveals he had naturalization offer from Singapore

Jayson Valdez, the latest Filipino athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics next month, shared that he once received an offer to change his citizenship.

The 25-year-old shooter on Tuesday revealed that Singapore had asked him before to represent their country by undergoing a naturalization process — the same procedure that Gilas Pilipinas big man Ange Kouame had undertaken in order to play for the Philippines.

However, Valdez said he and his family did not take the opportunity back then since according to him, he got the full support and backing of the Philippines and the country's sports officials.

"The offer was made a long time ago and Singapore asked me to get naturalized and to just stay there," Valdez, the 12th Olympic-bound Filipino athlete, said on Tuesday's Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA).

"But then we did not grab it because at the time, my father was part of the Philippine Marine and my mother was a teacher here and at first, I regret turning down the offer, but I got a lot of chances here in the Philippines."

Valdez said if he would be turning back time, he'll make the same decision since it was in the Philippines that he got the chance to play in the most prestigious meet in the world, the Olympics.

"If I would be given the chance again, I would say that I'm good here. I am happy with how my career turned out to be here."

Valdez, the son of three-time gold medalist Julius Valdez, shared that he will hit the ground running by Thursday in his preparation for the quadrennial meet.

The 2015 SEA Games bronze medalist also shared that he's feeling a lot more confident in his performances.

"First of all, I'm confident with my scores now because before, I was not this consistent," he added.

"The NSA is currently fixing the schedules of my training leading to Tokyo but they told me to just focus on the training and the games."

Valdez is the latest addition to the growing list of Philippine contingent to this year's Summer Games.

He joins an elite cast that already features EJ Obiena (pole vault), Carlos Yulo (gymnastics), Hidilyn Diaz and Elreen Ando (weightlifting), Eumir Marcial, Irish Magno, Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio (boxing), Criz Nievarez (rowing), Kurt Barbosa (taekwondo), and Margielyn Didal (skateboarding).

"It's a great feeling to be called an Olympian but it's a much greater feeling to win in the Olympics," he stressed.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News