MANILA -- International Olympic Committee (IOC) Representative to the Philippines, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, rallied Philippine national athletes participating in the 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) to do their best and carry the values of Olympism -- respect, friendship and excellence.
“I’m a true Filipino, and I’m very excited to our athletes,” she said. “Syempre naalala ko rin 'yung mga araw na competitor din ako,” she said in an interview with PNA at the Philippine Olympic Committee in Pasig.
“I'm grateful for all the opportunites, for being an athlete,” said the IOC official, who thanked the millions of Filipinos who supported her and her team during her heydays as an athlete.
“I’m praying that all our athletes would be able to maximize their talents at the SEA Games at maganda syempre ang resulta ng mga atleta natin,” said Cojuangco-Jaworski, also a medalist in equestrian.
"Focus in performing your best in the competitions, a few years after, we realized that we had really precious experiences and memories. Kaya I’m very excited for our athletes --the present, their future, everything that they will experience sa SEA Games," she added.
She also told athletes to embrace the Olympic values -- respect, friendship and excellence, especially for being given the opportunity to compete and represent the country.
She said: “fair play come with respect, we have to play clean, we have to show respect in as much we want to be respected.”
“In friendship, we are able to observe how they (athletes of ASEAN) move and conduct their training, by doing so – we learn each other's culture and become rich –in heart and in mind.”
“Excellence--no matter what we are doing, we have to strive to do our best," she said.
In sports, she said one must work hard to get good results and eventually earn the respect of others including fellow athletes and competitors.
“Achievements come with adversity, that you can learn from defeat and you have to be humble in victory. Sa sports lang talaga makikita,” the IOC official said. (PNA) #SEAG2017PH
(Mikee Cojuangco Jaworksi | Photo by Primo Agatep)
