For steering Philippine sports to greater heights in 2022, the head of the country’s Olympic governing body will be among those to be feted in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino is the recipient of the Executive of the Year award anew from the country’s oldest media organization which holds its traditional gala night on March 6 at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel.
Tolentino will be recognized for being the leading force in helping Philippine sports sustain the huge strides it gained back in 2021 when the country had its most successful Olympic campaign ever.
The year that passed saw Philippine sports achieved a high level of success once more behind Hidilyn Diaz’s golden treble in the 88th IWF World Weightlifting Championships, Alex Eala becoming the first Filipino player to bag a junior singles grand slam crown in the 142nd US Open, the women’s football team clinching a first ever berth in the FIFA Women’s World Cup and winning the ASEAN Women’s Championship, EJ Obiena rising to become the world no. 3 pole vaulter after a historic bronze medal finish in the World Athletics Championship, and gymnast Caloy Yulo claiming three golds in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships and a silver and bronze in the World Championships.
There’s also karateka Junna Tsukii bagging the gold in the World Games, Carlo Paalam bringing home the gold in the Asian Boxing Championships, the billiards team of Rubilen Amit, Carlo Biado, and Johann Chua topping the World 10-Ball Teams Championships, Meggie Ochoa and Kimberly Anne Custodio doing the same in the Jiu-Jitsu World Championships, and Team Philippines finishing a fighting fourth in the 31st Southeast Asian Games despite the difficulty of training and campaigning amidst the pandemic.
Also the current Mayor of Tagaytay City and president of the Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines (PhilCycling), Tolentino was honored too, with the same award last year following the country’s memorable moment in the Tokyo Olympiad that saw Diaz claim the Philippines’ first ever Olympic gold.
Like Tolentino, Diaz will likewise be recognized as the PSA Athlete of the Year for the second straight time during the formal event presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV, and ably backed up by the POC, Mayor Tolentino, MILO, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation, Rain or Shine, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, OKBet, and ICTSI.
The other Filipino achievers are going to be honored as well, with Eala the recipient the President’s Award, while Major Awards will be handed out to the likes of Obiena, Team Filipinas, Yulo, Ochoa, Paalam, Custodio, Tsukii, Amit Biado, and Chua.