2018 Asian Games: PH Best Performance in 12 Years
The Olympics is considered to be the one event where the world’s best and greatest athletes get to prove their skills. But beyond the Olympics, there are smaller sporting events where athletes can show their prowess. One the latest is the recently concluded 2018 Asian Games which was held at Jakarta & Palembang, Indonesia.
Official logo of the 2018 Asian Games/IMAGE grabbed from the 2018 Asian Games Facebook page
ASIAN GAMES
The Asian Games or Asiad is a multi-sport event that takes place every 4 years. The games have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia since 1982 and is considered to be the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympics.
2018 ASIAN GAMES
11,000 athletes competed across 40 sports for a total of 462 medals in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from August 18 to September 2.
PHILIPPINE CONTINGENT
Diaz bagged the country’s first gold medal in the 2018 Asiad/IMAGE grabbed from the Philippine Sports Commission Facebook page
For the 2018 Asiad, the Philippines had a 227-athlete delegation bringing home a total medal tally of 4 golds, 2 silvers, and 15 bronzes, boosting the country’s ranking from 22nd place to 19th.
According to Philippine Sports Commission, this has been the country’s best performance in 12 years, the last being the 2006 Doha Asian Games when Filipino athletes brought home a 4-6-9 medal tally.
GOLD
Didal clinched the country’s final gold in the games/IMAGE grabbed from the Philippine Sports Commission Facebook page
The country’s first gold came from weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz. Already the country’s pride after winning the country’s lone Olympic medal (bronze) during the 2016 Rio Olympics, Diaz once again placed the Philippines on the map after winning in the Women’s Weightlifting 53 kg category.
The second and third gold medals came from the women’s golf team. Yuka Saso, a member of the golf team, also bagged a gold medal in the individual championship.
The final gold medal was clinched by 19-year old skateboarder Margielyn Didal.
SILVER
Ladon claims the country’s second and final silver medal/IMAGE grabbed from the Philippine Sports Commission Facebook page
The first of only 2 silver medals was claimed by judoka Kiyomi Watanabe in the Women’s 63kg division in judo. Watanabe’s second-place finish is an improvement from her 2014 Asiad performance where she finished 7th place. This is also the country’s first medal in the sport ever since it was first introduced in 1986.
The second silver and one of the last medals to be one was by Rogen Ladon in the Men’s Flyweight 52kg boxing event. Early in the game, Ladon even suffered a cut above his left eye from an accidental headbutt.
BRONZE
Members of the Philippine contingent/IMAGE Philippine Sports Commission Facebook page
The Philippines brought home a total of 15 bronze medals in the recently concluded games from a number of team and individual sporting events.
REWARD
Send-off for the Philippine contingent/IMAGE Presidential photo
As a reward for their accomplishments, each medallist will be awarded a cash prize. Gold medallists: Php 6M, silver medallists: Php 2M, and bronze medallists: Php 950,000. The monetary reward will come from a mix of government and private sectors.
The country’s best performance in over a decade will be hard to beat but it also sets the bar for the 2022 Asian Games.
