Richie Garcia, chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), had this to say yesterday when asked to comment on the poor showing of the Philippine team in the recent 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
“Hindi naman sa poor showing. We projected kasi a certain number of medals that were not realized. Things happened kasi na out of control natin like yu’ng mga atleta natin na nakakatagpo ng mga incidents right before they competed na na-apektahan ang kanilang performances,” explained Garcia, who graced yesterday’s Guinness Book of World Record attempts in archery by Cebu City students at the Cebu City Sports Center Gym.
The PSC was heavily criticized especially by the media after the country’s dismal showing in the quadrennial meet.
“The media really crucified us for this. Ang athlete naman panalo man o natalo basta ba binigay nya lahat sa competition ay hero natin siya,” Garcia said.
Garcia, however, maintained the criticisms hurled against the PSC was uncalled for.
“Why are they (media) crucifying us? Kasalanan ba namin yun? For example nga ay yung Gilas, doon sa Spain during Fiba World Cup ay iisa lang naman ang panalo nila pero pag uwi nila heroes silang lahat. Ngayon, dito sa Asian Games, iisa rin lang ang panalo nila pero bakit ang daming masasamang sabi pag-uwi nila galing Asiad?” said Garcia.
Garcia said that one of the reasons why the country came up with a meager harvest was the decision of the host country to scrap some events.
“At saka isa pang factor na naka affect sa ating medal ambitions ay kasi tinanggal ng Korea ang ibang events kung saan malakas tayo just like billiards,” he further added.
Garcia also cited the case of long jumper Maretella Torres, who performed well in the eliminations but committed a foul jump in the final event.
“Kasalanan ba namin sa PSC yung mga ganoon?” Garcia asked.
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