Fifteen kids were sent to the Asian Juniors and Youth Weightlifting Championships in Qatar this week and all of them went home with medals. All 15 of them.

Some gold, some silver, and some bronze. What’s important is they all delivered for the country. This is the message I always remind them.

You come home empty and you’ll be back in the woods lurking around for sometime. Unless you show me you’re ready, no trips for any of you. Philippine Sports Commission under Chair Richard Bachmann has given us his trust and we MUST always deliver.

Guess this should also be true with other National Associations? Hope so. What’s important with these championships anyway? Well, for us in Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas, this is the first of the stepping stone towards qualifying for the Los Angeles 2028.

Yes, they are all young from 16 yrs to 20 yrs and this is where we start training them hard. This is how we also started with Olympic golden girl Hidilyn Diaz. As Asian President of this Olympic sport, I made sure she would be a wild card in the Beijing Olympics at 16 years old, and made the first Gold for this country on her fourth Olympics at 32 years old. Wept a lot in London and eventually, got a silver in Rio, the only medal for the Philippines, and finally ended with the elusive gold in Tokyo.

Of course she also underwent training for three months in China and fortunately, had a gentlemanly Chinese coach from the mainland who was also a determining factor in her victorious journey together with her hubby now Julius and strengthening coach at the same time.

In this Qatar trip this week, our coaches and I can already visualize the future qualifiers. We throw them in the ocean and those who survive will make it.

Nerves get in the way and we know the hopeful ones for LA.

One thing that has finally come is the resurgence of this sport in other Asian countries such as India, with more than a billion people to boot, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, which we all clobbered last year in this same competition in India. We were the first over all team winner then, but now it seems like they are challenging us in every weight category. Which forces me to review our program. Actually, we’re paying a visit to PSC first week of the new year to request them for the approval of a Chinese male coach.

For the past two years, the Chinese embassy had been giving me a run around. Yet in our recent International Weightlifting Congress, a Chinese friend surprisingly asked me if we needed one. Just when I was already ready to give up. Cause we got one gold medal from them in Tokyo. And sent our Chinese coach Mr Gao, back home immediately after the games. Hmmm.

All our achievements this year, qualifying three for the Paris Olympics, national open, and international exposure we badly need to compete with the best in the world and bring honors to the country, we owe to Somebody Up There, and here on earth, to PSC, MVP, ICTSI, Ayalaland, SM Group, and to the parents, national coaches, and media for inspiring us to greater heights. To one and all, Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. MABUHAY ANG PILIPINAS.