Olympic 'epalism'

I INTENDED to submit to the editors of The Manila Times the last installment of my short essay on the fourth anniversary of "Dulowtard History Live" for today's column. It was written two weeks ago, but I did not submit it early as I often do. I held it off because I wanted to wait until after President Rodrigo Duterte's last State of the Nation Address (SONA) was finished. The President could do or say something explosive, and I would have no choice but to talk about that instead.

However, a welcome news came up just as the SONA finished. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz made history by earning for the country our first official gold medal in the Summer Olympics. (NB: Bowler Arianne Cerdeña won the country's first Olympic gold medal in Seoul 1988, but bowling was just a demonstration or exhibition sport back then. A demonstration sport is not part of the official list of events in the Olympiad but was chosen by the host country for promotion and possibly for inclusion in future Olympic events. Until the Tokyo 2020 games, bowling has not yet been made a regular sport in the Olympics.) Diaz herself in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and boxers Mansueto Velasco in Atlanta 1996 and Anthony Villanueva in Tokyo 1964 bagged silver medals before, but the gold has always eluded the country.