Past Filipino Olympians have voiced out in unison that the upcoming Tokyo Olympics will be the strongest chance for the Philippines to take home that elusive gold medal.
Several key officials of the Philippine Olympians Association (POA) chimed in on the current crop of Filipino athletes looking to do something that has been never done. Rafael Hechanova, who played basketball in the 1952 Helsinki Games, believes that the outlook for this year is much improved compared to before.
"Well, this is the first time where we have a group of Olympians who are not just going to participate, but (has) support from all over the Philippines for them to garner the first gold that we have been looking for," said Hechanova, who will turn 93 years young on July 8.
For Stephen Fernandez, who won bronze in the demo sport of taekwondo in the 1988 Seoul Games, just making the Olympics by itself amidst a challenging time brought about by the pandemic is something all Filipinos can be proud of.
"I truly believe, with all the Olympians going to Tokyo, we can strike something this year, especially (after) what everybody has gone through," mentioned Fernandez. "The Philippines will strike gold and more medals will be won by our Olympians going to Tokyo. I wish them all the luck. Our hearts are with them, our cheers and inspirations are all with them."
Akiko Thomson, one of the most successful Filipino swimmers ever, expressed her excitement over the potential of this year's batch, as the Philippines can boast of making the podium across different sports for the first time.
"We are so very hopeful that they were able to adapt and adjust and endure the last year because I know how challenging it was for them," opined Thomson, also the president of the POA, adamant that many of the country's 17 delegates thus far have what it takes to secure medals across numerous events.
For her part, Weena Lim, a former badminton player who participated in the 1996 Atlanta Games, hopes that Filipinos can throw their support behind one of the biggest contingents the country has sent to the Olympiad.
"We have 17 and a lot of gold medal hopefuls. With the one-year delay of the Games, I think, with how Filipinos are very resilient, we made use of this time to actually prepare more and be ready for this stage and I'm sure they're all excited and eager," remarked Lim.
"I think this time, we might just make it so good luck to our Olympians. We are all behind you, cheering for you, and we wish you all the luck and prayers. Let's go for this gold," she continued.
On Wednesday, the POA, along with the Philippine Olympic Committee and MILO Philippines, launched philippineolympians.org, a website listing and honoring all Olympians the country has produced in the past century.
The list was furnished by the Olympics Study Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, with the POA dubbing it as a "living archive," because of the fluidity of the list.
Thomson also urged relatives and descendants of over 400 Filipino Olympians listed to provide stories or pictures of their stint in the Games, to serve as a virtual museum chronicling the history of the Philippines in the Olympiad.