SUBIC - No one's ever too young or too old to win a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games.
Such was the case for 43-year-old playing coach Ridgely Balladares, who showed he still has a lot left in the tank after leading his team to a gold medal in the FE28ER match racing on Monday.
His team outclassed three others - including defending champion Singapore - in the keelboat match with a 7.0-point total at the end of eight races.
Other members of the golden squad are Joel Mejarito, Rubin Cruz Jr., Whok Dimapilis, Richly Magsanay, and Edgar Villapena.
Singapore settled for silver (13.0 points) while Thailand got 21.0 points for bronze medal.
"I just love sailing," said Balladares when asked what keeps him going. "I love sailing in the same way other elders love basketball. Also, there are 50-year-olds who win a gold in the Olympics."
Pressed for answer, Balladares, who also serves as manager, said he wanted to prove something before going full-time coach of the national team.
Now that he won a gold mint for the national team, it seems that Balladares will finally focus on his coaching duties.
"I think this is going to be my last. I think I want to concentrate on coaching. That's why I went all out now, because I want my athletes to look up to me," said Balladares. "It's hard to teach players when you don't have a medal. So I really did everything to get this gold medal."