A HISTORIC Baguio City to Tagaytay road classic, formal inauguration of the country’s first indoor velodrome and signing of pledges by Olympic Solidarity scholars mark the combined celebration of the Olympic Day and World Bicycle Day on Monday (June 23) in Tagaytay City. “This is a historic first not only for the Olympic Movement but also for Philippine cycling,” said Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, president of both the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and PhilCycling and mayor of Tagaytay City, which is also celebrating on June 21 its 87th charter day. First, according to Tolentino, is the breakthrough classic—one-day road race—from Camp John Hay in Baguio City to the finish line in front of the brand-new Tagaytay City Velodrome along Crisanto de los Reyes Avenue. Second, the new track facility—an International Cycling Union (UCI)-standard 250-meter indoor and wooden velodrome—will be formally inaugurated and opened, and third, Olympic Solidarity scholars in various sports will sign their contracts under the guidance of the POC all in one day. “It’s a celebration and perhaps, it’s the most unique in the world,” Tolentino said. The Baguio-Tagaytay classic of the PhilCycling will cover a total of 288 kms and will pass through the major expressways—TPLEX, SCTEX, NLEX, Slyway, SLEX and CALLAX—feauturing the top 30 finishers in the MPTC Tour of Luzon last summer. “It’s all about speed and endurance,” said Tolentino, as he thanked the collaboration of sports patrons and business tycoons Manuel V. Pangilinan and Ramon S. Ang and the MPTC, San Miguel Corp. Infrastructure, Camp John Hay and Duckworld PH for the milestone classic. The Tagaytay City Velodrome, according to Tolentino, will mark the resurgence of Philippine track cycling—a cycling disciplie that offers the most number of gold medals at 10 events for men and women. “We have confirmed our participation in the track events of cycling at the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand this December,” Tolentino said. “This is to get the wheels rolling for the new velodrome which we anticipate to be one of the velodrome hubs in Asia.”  The PhilCyclign will field men and women riders to the omnium event in the 33rd edition of the SEA Games Thailand is hosting in December.

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee and cycling federation president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino inspects two bikes of the Thailand cycling association headed by General Decha Hemkasri.

Aira Villegas (left), Fr. Eugenio Lopez, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Carlos Yulo, and Nesthy Petecio

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino (third from left) with (from left) coaches Jessica Pfister and Miguel Gutierrez,, Marc Pfister, Enrico Pfister, Christian Haller and Curling Pilipinas playing president Benjo Delarmente.

Philippine men’s curling team celebrates after winning historic first ever Southeast Asia’s gold medal in winter games.

David Lappartient (left) and Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino (right)

Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino

RICKY VARGAS was named chef de mission to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and Al Panlilio will handle the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games as the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) made key appointments during its first General Assembly for the year on Wednesday at the East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Paranaque City. Also appointed, according to POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino were Rep. Richard Gomez for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Dr. Jose Raul Canlas for the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand and Stephen Arapoc for the Chengdu 2025 World Games. “The objective is to prepare our teams—and athletes—in earnest for the international competitions, that’s why the chefs de mission were appointed,” Tolentino said. “If we prepare early, there will be no excuses.” Richard Lim of karate is chef de mission to the Asian Winter Games in Harbin that starts February 7 to 14 while the a ched de mission has yet to be named for the Third Asian Youth Olympics Games from October 22 to 31 in Bahrain. Vargas is a former POC president and currently chairman of the boxing federation, Panlilio (basketball) and Gomez (modern pentathlon) are the incumbent first and second vice presidents, respectively, and Canlas (surfing) treasurer of the organization, while Arapoc heads the wushu association. The SEA Games will be played December 9 to 20 this year in Chonburi, Songkhla and Bangkok, and the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are set February 6 to 22, Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games from September 19 to October 4 in 2026. The Los Angeles Olympics are from July 14 to 30, 2028. Former football president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta was appointed as ethics committee chairman while Atty. Daniel Hofileña, a non-POC member, will head the arbitration committee. Tolentino said the POC General Assembly also approved the 2025 working budget of P35 million which is P8 million less than last year’s because of the Paris Olympics preparations and participation.  Tolentino and his secretary-general Atty. Wharton Chan also announced that the POC made a P15 million savings last year.

THE country is fielding a 20-athletes team to the ninth edition of the Asian Winter Games that China is hosting for the third time from February 7 to 14 in the winter resort city of Harbin. The mission? To start setting the stage for a first-ever Winter Olympics medal for the Philippines. “We’ve already accomplished the dream in the Summer Olympics—three gold medals in consecutive games,” said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino on New Year’s Day Wednesday. “And that dream we want to also achieve in the Winter Olympics.” There are no available accurate records as to how many Filipino winter sports athletes competed in the first eight editions of the Asian Winter Games, but Tolentino believed the team to Harbin should be the biggest thus far. “And our athletes are competing in six of the 11 sports on the Harbin program,” Tolentino said. Curling, now one of the most-watched winter sports discipline, will have the most number of athletes in Harbin with 10 athletes— Marc Angelo Pfister, Enrico Gabriel Pfister, Christian Patrick Haller, Alan Beat Frei, Jessica Pfister, Benjo Delarmente, Kathleen Dubberstein, Leilani Dubberstein, Sheila Mariano and Anne Marie Bonache. The Curling Winter Sports of the Philippines was established late last year to organize the discipline’s ranks with the new group joining Philippine Skating Union and Philippine Ski and Snowboarding Association in the POC roster. The other members of Team Philippines managed by chef de mission Richard Lim are Paolo Borromeo, Aleksandr Korovin, Cathryn Limketkai, Isabella Marie Gamez and Sofia Lexi Jacqueline Frank in figure skating; Francis Ceccarelli and Talullah Proulx in Alpine skiing; Laetaz Amihan Rabe in freestyle skiing; Peter Joseph Groseclose in short track speed skating and Adrian Tongco in snowboarding Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo won the Philippines’ first Summer Olympics gold medal in Tokyo 2020 and gymnast Carlos Yulo captured two gold medals in Paris 2024, both under Tolentino’s watch at the POC. “The Winter Olympics are as extremely tough as the Summer Olympics, but we have proven that it could be done,” Tolentino vowed. Italy will host the 25th edition of the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo from February 6 to 22 next year. Sixty-four events will be contested in Harbin, which was host in 1996, the second time after Changchun 2007 where China first organized the games.  Japan has been the dominant team in the games, followed by China and Kazakhstan.