Filipino athletes given more training time, chances to qualify for Tokyo Olympics

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine sports officials welcomed the extra time the Filipino qualifiers and aspirants will get preparation-wise with the Tokyo Olympics now reset to July 23 to August 8 of 2021.

The new date is essentially the same schedule as the shelved Games this year — July 24-August 9 — allowing for more training time for Tokyo-bound bets EJ Obiena (pole vault), Caloy Yulo (gymnastics), and boxing duo Eumir Marcial and Irish Magno.

This is also true for Pinoy athletes still in pursuit of Olympic berths like Rio silver winner Hidilyn Diaz (weightlifting) and Kiyomi Watanabe (judo).

“(The new schedule is) good for us. There will be more chances to qualify and more time to train,” Philippine Olympic Committee president and Cavite Rep. Abraham Tolentino told The STAR Tuesday.

Chef de mission Mariano Araneta and boxing association secretary general Ed Picson expressed the same sentiment but acknowledged that training resumption is largely dependent on how soon the fight against the coronavirus pandemic is won.

“This will give them (Filipino athletes) ample time to prepare. Hopefully, this pandemic will end so that we all can go back to our normal loves,” Araneta said in a message to The STAR.

“Certainly, the extra time to prepare and train can be a positive thing. But everything really depends on how this unsettling situation pans out. (It’s) Very hard to make plans when everything hangs in the balance,” Picson said.

The IOC had confirmed that athletes already qualified for the 2020 Olympiad will retain their slots in the 2021 staging. There's no decision yet on the pending qualification processes, though.

IOC president Thomas Bach announced the new dates for the Tokyo Games Monday.

“With this announcement, I am confident that working together, we can master this new unprecedented challenge. Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel,” Bach wrote to the IOC officials and members.