By Waylon Galvez
Asian Games gold medalists Hidilyn Diaz, Yuka Saso and Margielyn Didal, and gymnast Carlos Yulo are candidates to become the country’s flag bearer in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
Monsour del Rosario, the national team Chef de Mission, said that the task force, composed of POC members and Philippine Sports Commission officials, will decide soon from the shortlist.
“They’ve given the country honor, and who ever we pick will lead us during the opening ceremony,” said del Rosario, who is in his second stint as CDM following his same role in the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games or AIMAG in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Diaz, Saso and Didal highlighted the country’s campaign in last year’s Asian Games when they bagged gold medals in their respective sports – Diaz in weightlifting, Saso in golf and Didalin skateboarding.
The 17-year-old Saso actually captured two gold medals as she anchored the women’s team to an impressive gold medal showing in the continental meet in Jakarte, Indonesia.
The 18-year-old Yulo gave the country its first podium finish in the World Championships inb Doha, Qatar last year when he bagged the bronze medal, thus becoming the first Filipino and first gymnast from Southeast Asia to pocket a medal.
Of the four, Diaz is the only athlete to have experienced being the national team’s flag bearer, which occurred during the AIMAG two years ago, a year after she won a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
De Rosario said that as for now, the four are the only candidates, although the current congressman in Makati City’s District 1 isn’t discounting the possibility of adding a few more to the list depending on the performance of athletes in different world championships this year.
