Three is a charm for PSC chairman?

TOkyo—philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William Ramirez will be attending his third Olympics hopeful that this time, the country will finally nail that elusive gold medal.

Ramirez was PSC chairman when Hidilyn Diaz debuted as an innocent 18-year-old in Beijing 2008 and was back at the sport’s agency’s helm when Diaz clinched a weightlifting silver medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

Now, in Tokyo 2020+1, Ramirez owns the distinction as the only PSC chairman since the agency’s establishment in 1990 to be attending three Olympics. Three is a charm?

“I always say, Olympic success is more than just a year of preparation,” said Ramirez two days before he and Chief of Staff Marc Velasco fly to Tokyo aboard a Philippine Airlines flight on Thursday.

“For some it took three cycles,” he said. “Experience is an excellent leverage.”

Ramirez’s Olympic journey matches weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz’s own Games sortie.

Then 18 years old, Diaz made her Olympic debut in Beijing as a wild card in women’s 58 kg class. So young and so innocent on the Olympic stage then, she didn’t make the podium, nor get close to it, but the prize of Zamboanga City reaped the experience she needed.

London 2012 wasn’t Diaz’s time then, but came 2016 in Rio and she brought home a silver medal.

“I have the privilege of seeing Hidilyn grow from grassroots to Olympic medalist,” Ramirez said.

Diaz and 18 other Filipinos are competing in 11 sports in Tokyo and Ramirez believes all of them have the potential to win the country’s first Olympic gold medal—or perhaps even more.

“This batch is strong. Not to discount previous batches because I always believe that making it to the Olympics is a medal in itself, it is just that this delegation really present us a strong chance for a golden break” Ramirez said.

Ramirez recalled how he felt when Diaz landed that silver in Rio, ending a six Olympic cycle drought since Atlanta 2016 when Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco won a men’s flyweight gold medal in boxing.

“Everyone was ecstatic. I brought Hidilyn to the President [Rodrigo Duterte] and my orders were crystal clear—‘butch, take care of the athletes,’” Ramirez said.

For this Olympics, Ramirez has under his care—besides Diaz—runner Kristina Knott, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, judoka Kiyomi Watanabe, boxers Carlo Paalam, Eumir Marcial, Irish Magno, and Nesthy Petecio, golfers Juvic Pagunsan, Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan, rower Cris Nievarez, shooter Jayson Valdez, skateboarder Margielyn Didal, swimmers Luke Gebbie and Remedy Rule, taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa, gymnast Carlos Yulo and weightlifters Diaz and Elreen Ando.