Araneta sounds alarm bell for Tokyo-bound athletes
THE country’s chief of mission to the Tokyo Olympics hopes government would also allow athletes who have qualified or are still trying to qualify for the rescheduled Games to return to collective training in the same manner as professional sports leagues are already allowed to resume their shuttered seasons.
“The government already allowed professional leagues to return, why not our athletes who are training for the Tokyo Olympics?” Mariano V. Araneta Jr. also the football association head, told the Businessmirror on Friday.
Araneta said that except for world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena who are continuously training abroad, the other qualified Filipinos for the July 23 to August 8 Tokyo Games—boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno—are locked down in their homes.
“They [Marcial and Magno] just couldn’t train for Tokyo shadow boxing,” Araneta said.
Yulo has made Japan as his training base. Obiena, on the other hand, is sharpening his skills at the World Pole Vault Centre in Formia, Italy.
The Inter-agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases provisionally approved the Philippine Basketball Association to restart its season in a bubble environment in Clark.
The IATF also relaxed health protocols for professional football and even horse racing.
Araneta said the Tokyo-bound Filipinos are already lagging behind their counterparts overseas in terms of training.
“They’re already cramming,” said Araneta, adding that in Europe, some parts of Asia and even in the Americas, competitions are already allowed although still under safety and health regulations.
Marcial has been training at home in Cavite, while Magno tries to stay in shape in Iloilo. Both boxers are also settling for online supervision by their Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines coaches.
Araneta said there are still 82 Filipino athletes hoping to qualify for Tokyo, including Rio 2016 Olympics weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz and world women’s boxing champion Nesthy Petecio.
Diaz is stranded—but continues to train— in Malaysia and Petecio, like her fellow boxers, could do nothing more than train by herself in Davao. Annieabad