By Alex P. Vidal
“The Olympics remain the most compelling search for excellence that exists in sport, and maybe in life itself.” — Dawn Fraser (Australian swimmer, 3-time winner at the Olympics)
IF we ask, who is the greatest Filipino athlete of all time?
As of August 3, 2024, the day gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo bagged the Philippines’ second gold medal, so far, in the World Olympic Games in Paris, France, the answer should be 24-year-old Carlos Edriel Yulo.
If, by a stroke of luck, another Filipino athlete competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics was able to chalk up two gold medals before the conclusion of the World Olympic Games in Paris, he or she could dislodge Yulo from our “all time” ranking.
FIRST THE QUESTIONS:
—Why not weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz who won the country’s first Olympic Games gold medal in Tokyo three years ago (the 2000 Tokyo Olympics was held in 2001 because of the pandemic) to end our gold medal drought since we first participated in the 1924 Paris Olympics?
— Why not Manny Pacquiao who won eight world boxing titles in eight different weight categories?
— Why not bowler Arianne Cerdeña, originally the first Filipino to win the gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics?
— Why not Efren “Bata” Reyes, who won the world 9-ball championship in 1999 and the world 8-ball championship in 2004?
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— Why not Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno, who won the World Cup of Bowling four times (1976, 1980, 1992 and 1996) and the World’s Invitational Tournament in 1984 and the World Tenpin Masters championship in 1999?
— Why not the late former Asian Games track and field queen Lydia de Vega, first Asian world boxing champion Pancho Villa (Francisco Guilledo), the greatest Filipino basketball player of all time Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga, Asia’s first chess grand master Eugene Torre, and so on and so forth?
THE ANSWERS:
— Hidilyn Diaz, 33. She could be second to Yulo by virtue of being the first Filipino to officially win the World Olympic Games gold medal. Nothing can take away this sterling distinction from her. Let’s give credit where credit is due. But, unlike Yulo who is gymnastics world champion in floor exercise (2019, 2018); vault (2021, 2022), parallel bars (2021, 2022) before the World Olympic Games, Diaz never won a world title in weightlifting except the silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. She also failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
— Arianne Cerdeña, 62. Although she won the gold medal in bowling, it was a demonstration event in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, thus it was not counted in the medal tally. Bowling, sad to say, never became an official Olympic Games event until today; however, it is popular in the Special Olympics.
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—Manny Pacquiao, 45. If the former senator from Saranggani province in Mindanao won the eight world boxing title belts in the World Olympic Games, he would be notches away from Yulo and the rest of the pack as “the greatest Filipino athlete of all time.” Pacquiao fought in the professional rank, enriching himself through the help of shrewd promoters in glitzy Las Vegas. Unlike Yulo, 24, who fought against fellow Olympic greats from other countries (he upset Tokyo Olympics champion Artem Dolgopyat in Paris) around the world in major world championships even before the 2024 Paris Olympics, Pacquiao would collect the eight world boxing tiaras at the behest of Bob Arum who picked his opponents. Pacquiao became instant world champion only after one fight without tackling and eliminating the top 10 contenders in each of the eight weight classes. All his bouts were shortcut or automatic championships. Yulo bagged the gold after passing through the proverbial eye of the needle in grueling rocking of floor routine capped off with a stuck twist versus highly regarded rivals. Nothing can compare to the Olympic Games gold medal; it’s the highest and most prestigious sports medal in the globe.
—Efren “Bata” Reyes, Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno, Lydia de Vega, Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga, Pancho Villa, Eugene Torre, and other great Filipino athletes were outstanding and legendary, but without a gold medal in the World Olympic Games, in terms of “the greatest of all time,” they will always be behind the king, Carlos “Edriel” Yulo.
(The author, who is now based n New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)
