Pinay Asiad
capture, too, the doubles event.
It was another trickster Mona Sulaiman’s turn to shine in 1962 in Jakarta, where she scored a triple as she swept the 100 meters and 200 meters besides helping the quartet composed of Solis, Aida Molinos and F.S Solis triumph in the 4x100 relay.
The women’s volleyball team wound up fourth, not so glittering but worth mentioning if only to stress that our girls were competing on a higher Asian ad world level of competitions.
Discus thrower Josephine “Big Girl” de la Vina salvaged one of mere two gold medals the Philippines scooped from Bangkok in 1966, the Asiad Fifth staging where the young Filipino basketeers lost the title their predecessors won four straight times.
The volleybelles remained in fourth position, two ranks higher than their deposed champion cagers.
The Filipinas went zero in 1970, again in Bangkok where only boxer Ricardo Fortaleza managed a gold and in 1974 in Tehran were the whole delegation was shutout.
Failure of Singapore to host the VIII Asian Games in 1978 led to Asiad return to Bangkok for the third straight time. Bowling and archery were added to the calendar paving the way for the Pinay keglers, led by legendary Bong Coo, to strut their wares and win three of four gold medals for the country.
Ms. Coo stashed away with the masters and all events as well as romping off with the women’s team of 5 top honors along with teammates Rachelle de Leon, Lolit Reformado, Lita dela Rosa and Nellie Castillo.
Tanker Ral Rosario went home with the gold in the 200meter freestyle.
Back to New Delhi in 1982, the Asian Games Federation was replaced by the Olympic Council of Asia. A year after emerging as the country’s newest track sensation with a golden g double at the 1981 Manila Southeast Asian Games, seventeenearLydia de Vega became Asia’s sprint darling, too, winning the century dash.
It was only one of the two gold medals won by the 114-man contingent, but it was enough to brighten another dismal performance by the Philippines in the quadrennial meet.
Swimmer William “Billy” “Billy” Wilson maintained swimming’s legacy as a perennial source of medals, winning the gold medal in the 200-meter 200- meter freestyle.
Lydia de Vega became the first woman athlete to win the 100-meer back-to-back in 1986 in Seoul where Bong Coo recaptured her All Events title while ruing, too, the Team of 5 with Cathy Solis, Arianne Cerdena, Cecile Gaffud and Bec Watanabe.
Golfer Ramon Brobio rounded out the Philippines’ four gold production by bagging the men’s individual plum.
Again no Filipina managed to bring home a gold four years later in Beijing where a boxer—Roberto Jalnaiz—save the country’s participation p by y salvaging g g the solitary y gold-plated software.
The basketball team made up of all-PBA players coached by living legend Robert Jaworski took the silver medal.
Filipinas again went blank in Hiroshima in 1994 where three gold medals were won, all by boxers Mansueto
“Onyok Velasco, Elias Recaido and Reynaldo Galido.
Ditto to the 1998 campaign in Bangkok where billiards artists players Romeo
Villanueva Vil- and Gandy Valle captured the 9-ball doubles title to give the
Filipino women empowerment came back in 2002 Busan with Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski annexed the god in the show jumping discipline in equestrian.
From then on until 2014, Filipino female campaigners were again nowhere to be found in 2006 in Doha, 2010 in Guangzhou and in 2014 in Incheon, a losing streak ended by Diaz and company last time around in Indonesia.