Dreaming of the Olympics

There’s a slim chance that the Philippines could end up the best Asian team in the coming FIBA World Cup in China and if it happens, no matter the final standing, the reward will be an automatic ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Of course, it’s a long shot particularly as the Philippines is bracketed in a group of “near death” with Serbia, Italy and Angola in the first round of eliminations in Foshan with only the top two finishers advancing to the second round. The other Asian qualifiers are host China, Iran, South Korea, Japan and Jordan. Japan won’t figure in the Olympic qualification because it has a guaranteed slot as host nation. Although New Zealand and Australia made it to the World Cup via the Asia/Oceania pathway, they will be recategorized as representing Oceania in the Olympic qualifications.

 In the World Cup, China is in Group A with Poland, Venezuela and the Ivory Coast. South Korea is in Group B with Russia, Argentina and Nigeria. Iran is in Group C with Spain, Puerto Rico and Tunisia. Japan is in Group E with Turkey, Czech Republic and the US. Jordan is in Group G with the Dominican Republic France and Germany. If the Philippines advances to the second round and no other Asian country does, it will mean automatic Olympic qualification for Gilas.

The last Philippine basketball team to compete in the Olympics was coached by Ning Ramos with Doming Itchon as manager in 1972. One of the players Jimmy Mariano was the national flag-bearer at the Munich opening parade. The other players were Ed Ocampo, Tembong Melencio, Danny Florencio, Ciso Bernardo, Marte Samson, Jun Papa, Bogs Adornado, Yoyong Martirez, Manny Paner, Joy Cleofas and Freddie Webb.

The Philippines finished 13th of 16 with wins over Senegal, 68-62, Japan, 82-73 and Egypt 2-0 on a walkover. The losses were to Poland, 90-75, Puerto Rico, 92-72, West Germany, 93-74, Yugoslavia, 117-76, Soviet Union, 111-80 and Italy, 101-81. That was the year when the Soviet Union upset the US, 51-50, in a highly-disputed ending where the Russians were given three chances to score the winning basket by FIBA secretary-general William Jones. 

Among the Soviet stars were Aleksandr Belov, Sergei Belov and Ivan Edeshko. The US team included Doug Collins, Dwight Jones, Bobby Jones, Tom Burleson, Tom McMillen, Ed Ratleff and Mike Bantom. It was the US’ first loss in Olympic basketball since the sport was introduced in 1936 and snapped the Americans’ streak of 63 straight wins. To this day, the American players have refused to accept their silver medals in protest of the travesty of justice.

Unfortunately, the 1972 Olympics went down in history as the Terror Games. German organizers had hoped to bury the sordid memories of the 1936 Berlin Olympics which Adolf Hitler used to try to propagandize Aryan supremacy and the main stadium was built on a site covered in rubble from World War II. Writer Carole Wilkinson said “it seemed to symbolize Germany’s desire to bury its aggressive history.” The Munich Olympics also unveiled the first Olympic mascot Waldi, a Dachshund with blue, green and orange stripes.

The Games were marred by the invasion of Palestinian terrorists who broke into the Olympic Village and held 11 Israeli athletes hostage. They had killed an Israeli weightlifter and wrestling coach and threatened to murder the hostages, one every hour, unless their demand of releasing 200 political prisoners was met. German police attempted a rescue operation but it ended in a disaster as all the Israeli hostages, five Palestinians, a policeman and a helicopter pilot were killed. The games continued but athletes from Israel and three other countries went home.

Curiously, two athletes of Jewish origin made a major impact in Munich. American swimmer Mark Spitz captured seven gold medals in seven events in eight days while Australian Shane Gould claimed three gold medals, a silver and a bronze, also in swimming.

One of the most inspiring Olympic stories that year was the New Zealand coxed eight rowing team’s victory. The rowers raised money for their trip to Munich by holding bingo games and a raffle. The US, Soviet Union and East Germany were favored to take the gold medal but in the end, it was New Zealand on the podium to claim the championship. What a triumph for amateurism, particularly as the rowers from the favored countries were basically pros who were handsomely compensated.