Philippines wins Gold in Beijing Olympics

That headline sure is eyegrabbing. But the headline Philippines wins gold in Beijing Olympics although true does not end there and is not the whole story, unfortunately. Willy Wang of the Philippines won gold in the "demonstration" sport of Wushu in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Wushu is only a demonstration sport, therefore the victory of Willy Wang will not count in the regular medal standings.



Willy Wang won the gold medal in the combined events of men’s nanquan and nangun (bare fists) Friday to somehow make up for the Philippines disastrous (non) performance in the Beijing Olympics. The Philippines have not won a single medal in any event. The Philippine Sports Commission should be abolished/revamped/heads should roll because it has failed mesirably in its mission and mandate.

I still congratulate Willy Wang, and we should be proud of him. He deserves every accolade there is for winning the gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In fact, we as a people should honor him just as if he won a regular Olympic gold.

This wushu Olympic gold is reminiscent of the gold medal in Bowling won by Arianne Cerdeña in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Ariane Cerdeña’s Olympic gold in bowling did not count because Bowling was an exhibition sport in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Ariane Cerdena however got as much accolade as if she had won a regular Olympic gold when she returned to the country.

UPDATE: It was announced that the wushu tournament was although held in an Olympic venue and was held during the Games duration, was only called an International Wushu Tournament.

* Note that Willy Wang was a part of the Filipino athlete contingent in the Presidential send-off party for the Beijing Olympics at the Palace.