Bobby Martinez (center), manager of the Parklane Para Tri Team, is joined by (from left) Arnold Balais, Alex Niño Silverio, Parklane marketing communications officer Imelda Jaybee Aquino and Renato Rodriguez in the press conference.
(CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
Members of the Parklane Para Tri Team have gained admiration before for showcasing resiliency and determination in triathlon races despite their physical disabilities.
Now, the team wants to use that popularity to inspire more persons with disabilities (PWD).
Composed of Arnold Balais, biker Joseph Rex Gonzales, runner Alex Niño Silverio and swimmer Renato Rodriguez, who are all PWDs, the team gained the spotlight in the recent Cobra Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships when it won the top spot in the men’s para tri division and finished seventh overall in the men’s relay division.
In a press conference yesterday held at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel, team manager Bobby Martinez said the team wants to discover more PWD athletes.
Martinez said as part of Parklane Hotel’s corporate social responsibility, they felt it’s important to include PWDs in their triathlon team.
“Since our active members of the para tri team are not getting younger, our main goal is to discover and develop young PWD athletes to compete in triathlon,” Martinez said.
The team’s most decorated para triathlete is Balais, whose left leg got amputated. He was able to climb Mount Apo, won a gold medal in the Philspada games in 1999 and represented the Philippines in the 1996 Paralympic Games in the US.
“We need the younger breed of PWD athletes to follow our footsteps that’s why we already started searching for potential athletes here in Cebu,” Balais said. “Just like us, we overcame and conquered our disabilities and became winners so it’s not impossible that they can do it too.”
Balais is set to represent the country anew this weekend as he competes in the Asian Dragon Boat Championships in Palawan. The entire Parklane Para Tri Team will also compete in the para tri division of the San Remegio 80/80 Triathlon’s 40/40 division on Saturday.
Martinez said that they will scout potential para triathletes when they compete in local triathlon races.