Philippine Sports Commission (original) (raw)

OLYMPICS

According to legend, the ancient Olympic Games were founded by Heracles (the Roman Hercules), a son of Zeus. Yet the first Olympic Games for which we still have written records were held in 776 BCE (though it is generally believed that the Games had been going on for many years already). At this Olympic Games, a naked runner, Coroebus (a cook from Elis), won the sole event at the Olympics, the stade - a run of approximately 192 meters (210 yards). This made Coroebus the very first Olympic champion in history.

The ancient Olympic Games grew and continued to be played every four years for nearly 1200 years. In 393 CE, the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the Games because of their pagan influences.

Approximately 1500 years later, a young Frenchmen named Pierre de Coubertin began their revival. Coubertin is now known as le R�novateur. Coubertin was a French aristocrat born on January 1, 1863. He was only seven years old when France was overrun by the Germans during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Some believe that Coubertin attributed the defeat of France not to its military skills but rather to the French soldiers' lack of vigor.* After examining the education of the German, British, and American children, Coubertin decided that it was exercise, more specifically sports, that made a well-rounded and vigorous person.

Source: About Official Website

Olympics - Philippine Sports Through the Years

BEFORE AND DURING THE 19th CENTURY

Even before the Spaniards came, Filipinos were beginning to engage in non-conventional sports activities to develop and test physical strength. Such activities included tag in the water, wrestling on the mudbanks of rivers, spear throwing and target throwing using stones. Indigenous games such as siklot, sungka, sumping, bunong braso, sipa and sintak also served as recreational activities.

During the latter part of the Spanish Era, Filipinos indulged in two particular sports, fencing and soccer. Fencing was engaged in by illustrados such as Gen. D. Antonio Luna who reportedly learned the sport in a private school in Intramuros, Manila from Don Martin Cartagena, a retired Calvary major of the Spanish army. In 1895, master fencer Gregorio Pardini gave an exhibition of simulated attacks in fencing at the Zorilla Theater, Azcaraga, Manila.

Soccer games were held at the Manila Sunken Garden every Sunday afternoon. The games were fought with such ferocity that players from both teams were usually injured.

The arrival of Americans brought forth a new era in Philippine sports. Through the YMCA, which came with the American forces, gymnasium sports activities and swimming were introduced in 1898 in order to improve the health and fitness of the Filipino youth.

Baseball was another sport that slowly became familiar to the Filipinos. American soldiers played the game wherever they were and taught the sport to local children who watched them play. Though the Filipinos initially found the sport too strenuous for their taste, the competition and rivalry it generated among schools eventually fostered interest.

THE EARLY 20th CENTURY

In 1901, the Thomasians came to the Philippines. They derived their name from the vessel which they rode en route to the country, the ship �Thomas�. They introduced the Filipinos to track and field, volleyball and basketball.

In 1903, the first baseball league competitions known as the Manila Bay League were held. This was the first national baseball tournament participated in by Filipinos.

Hon. W. C. Forbes, who would later become Governor-General of the country and the first President of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation, gave school sports a boost by providing athletic equipment to schools that showed the greatest progress.

To bring as many students as possible into competition in different sports, the Bureau of Education organized athletic associations. The first provincial association established was the Bicol Athletic Association which held its first meet in 1905. This was followed by Southern Luzon Association.

In 1910, the presence of several professional boxers among enlisted Army men encouraged the growth of professional boxing in the country. However, when these boxers desired to play amateur basketball, the need for a demarcation line between professional and amateur athletes became apparent. With the clamor for measures to avoid unfair competition, an organization was set-up to govern all organized athletics.

In January 1911, the Philippine Amateur Athletics Federation (PAAF) was born with Governor-General Cameron Forbes at the helm.

Through the efforts of PAAF, the Far Eastern Athletic Association was born with China and Japan as charter members. In February 1913, athletes from the Philippines and China tested their mettle against each other during the first Far Eastern Games in Manila. This tournament was the first international track and field competition held in the country.

Of the 26 athletes fielded by the Philippines, Regino Ylanan emerged as the most bemedalled, after he bagged the gold in all the events he competed in, namely shot put, discuss throw and pentathlon.

THE PHILIPPINES JOINS THE OLYMPICS