THE country’s Tokyo Olympics hopeful in taekwondo are staying at the Inspire Sports Institute bubble in Calamba despite the weeklong enhanced community quarantine that ends on Easter Sunday.
Their training, according to Philippine Taekwondo Association national team director Dindo Simpao, will continue during lent—but sparring sessions will have to take a back seat.
“There’s no order to break the bubble. We have to continuously train,” Simpao told BusinessMirror. “We cannot afford to cease training at this time. We are monitoring them daily and they are in very good spirits, they’re doing well.”
The ECQ were reimposed in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, including Laguna, to drastically stop the spike in Covid-19 infections. As a result, the Philippine Sports Commission ordered a halt to all indoor and outdoor training activities of all national team members.
But the jins will be content with doing individual training-weights and other exercises.
“We are in the crucial stage of our training so I don’t think it is possible or advisable to make them stop,” Simpao said.
The jins will be in the bubble until May and will fly to Amman, Jordan, for the Asian Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament set from May 21 to 23.
Men’s 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Kurt Bryan Barbosa (-58 kgs), Arven Alcantara (-68 kgs), Dave Cea (-80 kgs), Samuel Thomas Harper Morrison (-80 kgs) and Joseph Chua (-68 kgs) are currently in the bubble.
With them are women’s 2019 SEA Games gold winner Pauline Louise Lopez (-57 kgs), 2016 Rio Olympian Kirstie Elaine Alora (+67 kgs), Baby Jessica Canabal (-57 kgs) and Laila Delo (-67 kgs).
With them are coaches Carlos Padilla and Christian Al Dela Cruz.
“We’re hoping all of them will qualify for the Tokyo Olympics,” Simpao said.
A country can qualify a maximum of two athletes in each of the eight weight classes in both genders in Tokyo.
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