Smart Communications recently joined the Philippine Olympic Committee in honoring Filipino athletes who bagged medals during the 2018 Asian Games held in Indonesia last Aug. 18 to Sept. 2.
During the awarding ceremonies held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Filipino Asian Games 2018 medalists received incentives from Smart, on top of their grants from POC’s donors including the MVP Sports Foundation, Inc.
The gold and silver medalists received smartphones powered by Smart postpaid plans. Meanwhile, bronze medalists were given pre-loaded Smart Pocket WiFi kits.
“We want our PH medalists to experience our fastest LTE network,” said Gabby Cui, Smart assistant vice president and head of community development and partnerships. “We hope that with these Smart-powered phones, we are able to empower them in preparing themselves for future games; and of course, to connect them with their loved ones.”
From the beginning of their journey at the Asian Games, Smart, through POC, turned over Smart Prepaid LTE SIMS and load cards that the Filipino athletes can use on Smart World Data Roaming Manager – an international service that Smart subscribers abroad can access to easily manage mobile internet usage.
Filipino Asian Games medalists received incentives from Smart Communications on top of their cash grant from the Philippine Olympic Committee and its partners.
Bringing honor to the country
During their stint at the Asian Games 2018, the Filipino medalists learned the value of teamwork and discipline despite the high level of competition.
“What I learned here is no matter what happens just don’t give up, persevere,” said Pauline Lopez, Bronze medalist for Taekwando.
She also mentioned that camaraderie among team mates and the other Philippine national delegates helped them survive the pressure at the tournament.
For the Philippines’ first female athlete to win the Asian Games Gold medal for weightlifting, Hidilyn Diaz, she claims her strong faith in God made her win.
“Siyempre sa hirap ng pinagdadaanan ko kinukwestiyon ko na ang sarili ko kung kaya ko pa ba and minsan kinikwestiyon ko siya minsan sa pressure na nararamdaman ko pero dahil nagtitiwala ako kay God, nanghihingi ako ng wisdom sa kanya at dahil dun nagawa ko lahat” Diaz added.
Currently, Hidilyn is preparing for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Asian Games 2018 first-time athlete, Yuka Saso, Gold Medalist for the Golf tournament, mentioned that she doesn’t let pressure get into her, and asserts that teamwork is the key to surpassing everything.
“Nandoon ‘yung pressure, pero sobrang nag enjoy po kami kasi team event po ‘yung sa amin, teamwork talaga,” Saso said.
For Margielyn Didal, women’s street skateboarding gold medalist, her strong ties with her family and supporters back home contributed greatly to her winning performance.
“I hope Smart continues to give support especially ‘pag nag out-of-country, para may communication ‘yung mga athletes to their family. Para magkaroon ng conversation with family before the event, para more inspiration at motivation bago sumabak,” said Didal.
Smart has been a staunch supporter of the sports industry in the Philippines and they have better plans for our PH athletes in the future.
“We are looking at different ways to support Smart, on how they support Sports with POC and PSC. We are looking at certain technologies that we can use together, certain platforms for the athletes, to improve para they can use technology in Sports science,” Cui added.