Because he asked

The world is still experiencing the “Olympics hangover” and it manifests in different forms.

In Bangkok, Thailand, people come across big billboards along major roads featuring photos of individual kids posing for a particular sport. Could be golf or maybe tennis and the message says that these young kids may be participating in the 2032 Olympics.

The message is generational. What’s interesting is that the “advertiser” is not in athletics, it’s iPhone.

In the Philippines, people were initially all proud and patriotic after Filipino athletes brought home the two gold medals in gymnastics and two bronze medals in boxing. But all that was quickly and tragically overtaken by the family TV drama of the Yulo mother and son aired by some media outlet. This was then followed by recycled “interest” or “desire” to solve the ills of Philippine sports.

Everyone seems to have the same question during this Olympics hangover: what will it take to have Olympic caliber athletes and teams? During a wedding I recently attended, people wondered how to build up consistently winning champion volleyball teams and how can the Philippines break into the top rank competition?

Those regularly watching the news may have heard and seen President Bongbong Marcos saying he would like to ask two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo what needs to be done, what are the problems and how can the Philippines help athletes. The President may have given a well-timed soundbite, but it was not convincing.

For starters, President Bongbong Marcos is no stranger to athletics. Yes, he was once an athlete, a swimmer in fact for the De La Salle-Greenhills High School swimming team. He may have been Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s son, but he was not blind to his surroundings, such as the facilities of the old Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Back in those days, his uncle Michael Keon had hopes and dreams for Philippine sports, but world champions are not made overnight or in four years. Even our current heroes and icons have tales of struggles, defeats and victories as well as nightmares from politics in sports.

Unfortunately, the latter has been disrupting the progress of Philippine sports regularly because of meddlesome