BMX Olympian Daniel Caluag is confident he will get a return trip to next year’s Olympics to be held in Brazil.
The 28-year-old Caluag has been juggling his time between training and his work, apart from his newfound responsibility as a doting father to his daughter Sydney who will be a year old this September.
Now working as a nurse in California, Caluag bared that he is having a full schedule both as a family man and an athlete where he gained the distinction of being the only Asian qualifier during the 2012 London Olympics.
“I’m spending a lot of time with my family. Here in California, it’s a little bit harder to live on an athlete’s wage, I would say. So, I’m still full-time nurse which is a new career for me, but I’m still training and putting in all the work I need to do for the 2016 Games,” said Caluag.
Caluag is eyeing a spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics via next year’s World Championship, which is set sometime in May in Colombia.
While waiting for the Worlds, Caluag has set the Chula Vista BMX track as his training camp which is a two-hour drive from where he currently lives.
“It’s a perfect weather for training year-round and having access in Chula Vista would help tremendously with going to 2016,” said Caluag.
Among those training in Chula Vista, Caluag disclosed, is Latvia’s Maris Strombergs, who is the only gold winner of the sport’s first two stagings in Beijing and London.
Caluag was named 2014 Athlete of the Year by the Philippine Sportswriters’ Association for being the sole gold winner in last year’s Asian Games in Incheon, Korea.