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NAKHON
RATCHASIMA—Monday night, Victor Espiritu got to wear
what was his second Southeast Asian Games gold medal
after he topped track cycling’s points race at the
brand-new His Majesty The King’s 80th Birthday
Anniversary National Stadium.
When he
comes back home to Navotas where he now lives, he will
only have one SEA Games gold medal to show off to
everyone.
The
reason? He never got to receive the men’s individual
time trial gold medal which the SEA Games Federation
awarded to him after Tonton Susanto was stripped of the
mint after he tested positive of banned substances.
“Hindi
ko pa nga nakukuha ’yung [gold] medal,” said
Espiritu, who seemed to no longer care at all if ever
the federation finds out at this time that it was remiss
of its obligation to a regional cycling champion.
But
Espiritu vowed to get another one with the road team in
Friday’s massed start.
“Sasagadin
pa rin natin para sa gold medal,” said Espiritu.
Philippine cycling, meanwhile, has been on a progressive
trend in the SEA Games after a third gold medal was won
Tuesday by Alfie Catalan in men’s individual pursuit of
track.
“Slowly
we can see the improvement and this augurs well for
Filipinos who rank cycling as one of their favorite
sports,” said Bert Lina, president of PhilCycling, the
national federation.
Besides
Catalan’s gold and Espiritu’s, Joey Barba kicked off the
Philippine gold-medal campaign in men’s downhill of
mountain bike.
The
Philippines had one gold medal—Eusebio Quiñones in men’s
crosscountry of mountain bike—in Vietnam in 2003, the
year Lina was elected president of the federation. Two
years later in Manila, two golds were won, one each by
Catalan, also in men’s individual pursuit, and Baby
Marites Bitbit in women’s crosscountry.
Lina
said the team in these 24th SEA Games is still focused
on the two gold medals in Friday’s massed start of road
race, an event Filipinos are expected to excel in owing
to the multistage Padyak Pinoy and its forerunners, the
Marlboro Tour and Tour of Luzon.
“Hot
na hot na ang mga bata,” said head coach
Jomel Lorenzo, referring to his road warriors—Espiritu,
Warren Davadilla, Lloyd Reynante and Irish Valenzuela.
Each has a credential that sends chills down the spines
of their opponents, including the first-timer Valenzuela
who shows big promise just like Jan Paul Morales and
Julius Mark Bonzo.
Bitbit,
who failed to defend her crosscountry gold medal as she
settled for the bronze here and who was obviously
cheated of the gold in the women’s individual time
trial, also of road, will race in the women’s massed
start together with Filipino-Australian Apryl Eppinger.
The
women’s race covers 116.1 kilometers and will start at 9
a.m. (10 a.m. in Manila). The men will race over 160.3
kilometers beginning at 1 p.m. here. Both races will be
at the Mittrahap Road which is about 75 kilometers
outside of the city.
The
progress of Philippine cycling in the regional Games was
achieved with the adequate support of the government in
terms of equipment and foreign exposure.
“As far
as equipment is concerned, we have brand-new and
state-of-the-art equipment that could match our
neighbors,” said Lorenzo, “but what is remarkable is
that we don’t go abroad as often and as extensively as
our rivals. It’s all homegrown.”
The
riders had only three foreign exposures before the
Games—twice in Thailand for the Asian Championships
(road) and Track Asia Cup (track) and once in China for
the Asian Mountain Bike championships.
Thailand,
Lorenzo added, also hired a German coach,
Vietnam
has a Russian in its payroll and Malaysia an Australian.
Indonesian riders also trained in
Switzerland,
while the Malaysians honed in Melbourne.
The
country’s best finish in the SEA Games was in 1981 in
Manila where Lorenzo and his colleagues scooped eight
gold medals. In 1991 five golds were won, also in
Manila.
Thailand
has so far won the most golds in these Games with six,
followed by the Philippines with three and Indonesia and
Malaysia two apiece and Vietnam one.
Also,
there are one silver (Quinones, crosscountry) and four
bronze medals (the others are Nino Surban in
crosscountry and Morales in 1-kilo) in the RP medal
coffers so far this year. |
