Paralympians vow their best in Rio

MANILA, Philippines - It’ll be a dogfight for 528 gold medals on the line at the Paralympics in Rio on Sept. 7-18 and the Philippine delegation of five athletes hopes to be in the thick of the action among 4,350 differently-abled competitors from 160 countries.

Philippine Paralympic Committee (PPC) president Mike Barredo said yesterday the athletes are ready to compete against the world’s best with the goal of bringing home a medal. Table tennis paddler Josephine Medina, 46, was designated the flag bearer at the Parade of Nations in the opening ceremonies, reprising her role at the 2012 London Games. Medina fell a win short of claiming a bronze in London, finishing fourth after losing to France in the semifinals and Sweden in the battle for third. She had previously eliminated Brazil and Norway.

Barredo said Medina, a gold medalist at the Asean Para Games in Singapore last year, is out for a podium finish in her second Paralympics. She is afflicted with poliomyelitis. Medina suffers from weakness in her right limb because of polio from childhood.

The other Paralympians are powerlifter Adeline Dumapong, powerlifter Agustin Kitan, swimmer Ernie Gawilan and wheelchair track racer Jerrold Pete Mangliwan. They left Manila for Rio last night with PPC secretary-general Ral Rosario and coaches Mark Eballa of table tennis, Ramon Debuque of powerlifting, Antonio Ong of swimming and Joel Deriada of athletics. Chef de mission Dennis Esta, the executive director of the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently-Abled (Philspada) the last 12 years, departed for Rio to set up quarters ahead of the other delegates last Monday. Barredo and PSC commissioner Arnold Agustin will leave tonight after attending the two-day top-level consultative sports meeting at the Century Park Sheraton.

Barredo said he left it up to the coaches to decide who would be the flag bearer. It was a toss-up between Medina and Dumapong, the 2008 flag bearer on her fifth Paralympics since 2000. Of the five Paralympians, two are first-timers, Gawilan and Mangliwan. Barredo said the rookies will take their lead from the holdovers.

“Josephine has the highest ranking of our Paralympians because she placed fourth in London,” said Barredo. “We’re hoping she gets a medal this time. It’s been 16 years since we won our first and only medal at the 2000 Paralympics with Adeline in powerlifting. We ended our medal drought in the Olympics with Hidilyn Diaz. Maybe, we’ll do it in Rio, too.”

Dumapong, 42, will compete in the +86 kilogram category. In 2014, the Ifugao native lifted 115 kilograms in the same division at the Asean Para Games for a silver medal. Paralympians only do the bench press in powerlifting. She had polio early in her life and suffers from paralysis of the lower limbs and lower trunk.

Kitan, 38, competed at the 2004 and 2012 Paralympics in the -52 kilogram division in powerlifting. Like Dumapong, he was down with polio during childhood and has paralysis of both lower limbs and lower trunk. In Rio, Kitan will move up to the 56 kilogram class.

Gawilan, 23, has underdeveloped extremities. Orphaned at an early age, he took the gold medal with a time of 4:48.49 in the 400-meter freestyle at the Asean Para Games and could make waves in Rio. Gawilan is entered in three events, the 100 and 400-meter freestyle and the 100-meter breaststroke. He is about three feet tall and competes in the pool with a high level of confidence despite his disability.

Gawilan is afflicted with ectromelia in both lower extremities and ectrodactyly in both upper and lower limbs. At the pre-natal stage, he was diagnosed with a condition of congenital amputation of the lower extremities and fingers.

Mangliwan, 36, won the gold in the 100 and 200-meter wheelchair race events and a bronze in the 400-meter at the Asean Para Games. He will compete in the 100 and 400-meter events in Rio. Mangliwan suffers from poliomyelitis with paralysis of both lower limbs, mid to lower trunk. He has weakness of one upper limb with limitation of motion of the right shoulder.

The Philippines made its Paralympic debut in 1988 with four athletes then didn’t return until 2000 with two athletes. In 2004, the Philippines was represented by two athletes and in 2008, by three. In 2012, the delegation was the country’s biggest ever with nine athletes – four in track, three in powerlifting, one in swimming and one in table tennis. Dumapong was sixth in the +82.5 kilogram division with a bench press of 120 while Kitan did not register a score in London.

Barredo said Rosario was the country’s perennial chef de mission but he decided to give Esta a chance in Rio. “Actually, our first choice was Atty. Guillermo Iroy, former PSC executive director and now chief of the budget division,” said Barredo. “But he begged off because of work with the transition of leadership in the PSC. Ral will be with us in Rio so we can still tap his expertise. Dennis has worked with us for 12 years and we thought this would be an opportunity for him to be our chef de mission. We think he’ll do a good job.”