Two national athletes, who did not win medals in the Tokyo Olympics, are set to get an additional P250,000 as incentives from the Philippine Sports Commission.
Commissioner Ramon Fernandez said this is what’s in store for weightlifter Elreen Ando and swimmer Luke Gebbie, who may have been empty-handed in their respective events, but still broke Philippine records.
Fernandez said national athletes who eclipse any national record in the Tokyo Olympics will get the additional cash incentive.
Gebbie set a new Philippine record on Day 4 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics swimming competition last July 27 at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.
A Filipino-New Zealand swimmer, Gebbie smashed his national record of 49.94 seconds he set during the 2019 FINA World Championships.
During the Olympics, Gebbie even finished ahead of Singapore swimming star Joseph Schooling, with a time of 49.64 seconds.
Ando, on the other hand, broke her Southeast Asian Games effort of 94kg in the snatch, 119 in clean and jerk and 213 total as well as the 98-115-213 in this year’s Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She had a 100-122-222 in the Tokyo Games.
The incentives won’t be limited to Ando and Gebbie, because there could be others, like pole-vaulter EJ Obiena, who is aiming to smash his national record of 5.87m in the finals today.
Last week, Hidilyn Diaz lifted an Olympic record-breaking 127 kgs in the clean and jerk and 224-kg total in the women’s 55-kg class in weightlifting.