By NICK GIONGCO
After 14 long years, the Philippines returned to the summit of Southeast Asian Games supremacy when it garnered 149 gold medals in the 30th staging of the SEAG on home soil.
Banking on the potent support of the government and the public, the host country went on a blistering pace and even with four days of competition remaining in the 12-day event, it already had the overall crown in the bag.
Pulling it off wasn’t actually rocket science.
All the Philippine Olympic Committee did, led by its intrepid president Bambol Tolentino, was focus on sports where the Philippines had genuine chances of winning not just a medal, but a gold at that.
The formula worked wonders for the Philippines since the SEAG Federation Council members – the 11-member SEAG countries – almost always agree to allow the host to pick sports where they excel in.
Partnering with the Philippine Sports Commission, whose chairman Butch Ramirez also took the job of chief of mission of the Philippine team and whose office pumped in hefty funding for the athletes’ training and overseas exposure, and the Phisgoc, which organized the SEAG, there was simply no turning back for the Philippines in gunning for the overall championship.
When the mushroom dissipated, Vietnam, the host of the 2021 edition, could only grab 98 while Thailand, the undisputed champion of the biennial sportsfest, was a distant third with 92.
Arnis, danceport and athletics provided the oomph in the Philippines’ total gold tally with a combined production of 34.
But taking the spotlight still were the marquee sports with basketball staging a coup with the unfancied women’s team winning alongside the all-pro men’s squad.
World champion gymnast Carlos Yulo also delivered by taking two gold and five silver medals while Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz lived up to her lofty billing by capturing the gold in her 55 kg event in weightlifting.
Boxing, the traditional provider, had 12 out of 13 fighters winning medals with seven bagging gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
