Bowling great Olivia Bong Coo is coming in as one of the commissioners of the Philippine Sports Commission.
Malacañang has informed Coo’s status in its recent communication with the government sport agency.
The 74-year-old Coo, who collected a total of 78 bowling medals won in regional and world competitions during her time as a national athlete, is expected to come aboard once Palace officials have finalized their list of new officials for the PSC.
The Office of the Executive Secretary, through its head Victor Rodriguez, informed the PSC of Coo’s appointment.
Coo is a four-time world champion bowler and has 37 gold medals to her credit during her 21-year stint with the national squad from 1970 to 1991.
At present, she is the chairwoman of the Women in Sports Commission of the Philippine Olympic Committee since February 2021 and president of Philippine Bowling Federation, Inc.
No replacement for William Ramirez as PSC chairman has been named yet.
Ramirez served as chairman during the tenure of Rodrigo Duterte as president.
The 72-year-old Ramirez, known for the successes of the agency’s support for elite and national athletes in national and international competitions, and its immersive grassroots development program, stepped down at the end of Duterte’s term last June, and so did commissioners Ramon Fernandez, Charles Maxey, Arnold Agustin and Celia Kiram.
Coo is also known for being the first Filipino athlete to make it to the Guinness Book of World Records twice.
Her achievements includes total of 137 championship titles with at least one Masters’ title for 28 consecutive years.
Because of this, Coo, has been inducted to the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.