Medina, other special athletes eye London trip

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is grooming 16 differently-abled athletes in five sports, led by bemedalled table tennis player Josephine Medina, for a possible stint in the Paralympic Games slated Aug. 28-Sept. 9 in London.

A wheerchair athlete, Medina is the winningest among the Filipinos with four gold medals in the sixth ASEAN Paragames in Solo, Indonesia, making her a solid prospect for a slot to London.

Medina is seeking to earn precious ranking points in various qualifying meets over the next few months to fulfil her dream, as do the others in the “candidates list” of the Philippine Sports Association for the Differently-Abled, including veteran Adeline Dumapong Ancheta.

Ancheta, the country’s first and only medalist in the Paralympics with a bronze-winning effort in the Sydney edition, is vying for another berth to the Games’ powerlifting competitions, along with Achelle Guion, another powerlifting champ in the last ASEAN Paragames.

Also trying to make it to London are Solo Paragames triple gold medalists Ernie Gawilan, Arnel Aba, and Beariza Ma. Roble (swimming); Paragames champs Roger Tapia, Prudencia Manaligan, and Joel Balatucan and fellow tracksters Marites Burce, Isidro Vildosola, Ruth Openia, Rosalie Torrefiel, and Andy Avellana (athletics); as well as Godfrey Taberna and Artus Bucay (cycling).

“As I see it, we should have at least five to seven (qualifiers/participants to London),” said Philspada chief Mike Barredo.

The last time in Beijing, the Philippines previously sent three athletes in two sports, Ancheta and keelboat sailing tandem Cherry Pinpin and Pedro Sollique. Two bets competed for Team Phl in the 2000 (Sydney) and 2004 (Athens) editions. 

“It’s not easy (to qualify) when you’re talking about (athletes from) 150 countries vying for slots. Because like the Olympics, the Paralympics also have a quota, a ranking system, a cutoff. There’s also the biparttite or wild card,” said Barredo.

“(But) for sure, we’ll have participation here and sana makalusot ng isang gold man lang, (hopefully we get a gold medal), it will be the first gold ever,” he added.