IN preparation for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, Filipino athletes will be holding a month-long training camp in Metz, France.
According to Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino, who is the president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), the said training will push through as planned, something they’ve been meticulously preparing for a long time.
He said, in this training camp, the sports lab, sports clinic, and all the equipment needed or used in the Olympics are already there.
“So, for the first time ever, we will have a training camp before the Olympics. Everything is set up there for acclimation, everything, so everyone can get used to it. It’s like agriculture, you know, like with our cattle, they need to get used to the weather first,” according to Mayor Abraham Tolentino, President, Philippine Olympic Committee.
Tolentino reported that there are already twelve (12) Filipino athletes who have qualified to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Among the sports that the country will participate in are fencing; rowing; pole vault; three (3) from gymnastics; 3 in boxing; and 3 from weightlifting.
The Philippine Olympic Committee president stated that this number could still increase.
“We’re expecting, God willing, we’ve been praying and expecting for more to be added – there will definitely be more. And my gut feeling is that there will be more added than those who qualified in the top 12,” added Tolentino.
Tolentino revealed that Filipino athletes from sports such as boxing, golf, cycling, long jump, aquatics or swimming, skateboarding, and others could potentially be added to the Paris Olympics.
“So, when you total it, there will definitely be more than 12 who might enter, hopefully added. So, with that, we’ll be surpassing the Tokyo Olympics where we had 19 athletes qualify. So, this will be one of the biggest since, I think, since the 1950s, the 1956 Olympics,” Tolentino stressed.
