Discipline, not incentives, wins Olympic medals

The way to excellence in sports is through discipline, not through incentives. Sadly, like the rest of the country, Cebu City does not think that way. In Cebu City, there is now a proposal to institutionalize, by means of an ordinance, a reward system that would provide cash gifts to any Cebu City athlete who wins a medal in the Olympics, or any of the other major international sporting meets.

This is not to say Cebu City should not honor and appreciate the achievements of its athletes, by means of cash if that is the preferred means. But let it come after the fact. Let not the cart come before the horse. Let our athletes be inspired by something far loftier than the lure of cash rewards. And if Cebu City truly has the means and the cash to help, let it put its wherewithal where it is more practical, like spending for better training and equipment.

But not even the best of equipment can substitute for discipline. It would have been tempting to use Kenya as a perfect example of discipline taking over where everything else is scarce. But Kenya's storied dominance of long distance running in the Olympics and other international running events is already very well known. So let us take an example that is closer to home.

Since it is so much in the news as of late, although of an issue that is quite different, let us take the example of North Korea. Unlike the veteran Philippines, North Korea started joining the Olympics only in 1972. And it did not even participate in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in support of Russia's boycott of the games, as well as in 1988 in Seoul, for obvious reasons.

But do you know how many Olympic gold medals, yes Olympic gold medals, North Korea has already won? The Hermit Kingdom has already won 16. That's right, 16, including two that it won just in 2016 in Rio. Compare that with the Philippines, which still has yet to win its first ever Olympic gold despite joining the games way earlier in 1924.

Yet, North Korea does not really have the kind of resources that can match its unbelievable Olympic gold medal output. Its GDP in 2016 was only US$ 28 billion. That is way below the Philippines 2016 GDP of US$ 305 billion. If money alone is the basis for winning medals, the Philippines would have blown North Korea away in the Olympic medal story. But it is discipline, of which North Korea has plenty, that wins medals, and which we almost absolutely have none.