JAYSON VALDEZ is supposed to be in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija in July, all locked and loaded to join the Army.
But a military career would have to wait as the 25-year-old Valdez got a call—an even greater one—to fight for flag and country on the world’s biggest stage, the Olympics.
“I was determined to enlist in the Army yesterday [Saturday] morning because inasmuch as I really wanted to help my family, I want to serve the country,” Valdez told BusinessMirror on Sunday. “But I received perhaps the best ever phone call that would forever mark my life as an athlete.”
That call came from Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA) Secretary General Iryne Garcia who told Valdez that he qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the men’s air rifle 10-meter event of shooting.
“The news is a gift from God,” Valdez said. “I have waited and worked very, very hard for 10 years to qualify for the Olympics.”
Valdez is the first Filipino to qualify in air rifle event of shooting since Rasheya Jasmin Luis in Sydney 2000 and also the first in two Olympic cycles since Paul Brian Rosario qualified as a wildcard in men’s skeet in London 2012.
Now that he’s going to Tokyo, Valdez will have his old reliable Feinwerbau 800 in his grip and on his shoulders day in and day out—and not an M16 standard issue rifle for Army personnel.
“I trust my rifle which I have used this for a long, long time,” Valdez said. “But for the Olympics, I would need lots and lots of bullets for the remaining training days before the competition.”
The Tokyo Olympics shooting competitions are set from July 24 to August 2 at the Asaka Shooting Range, some 30 kilometers from the Japan National Stadium.Valdez qualified for the Olympics through the Munich-based International Shooting Sports Federation’s quota system. He earned the minimum qualifying score (MQS) of 595 points culled from his participation in the World Cup, continental championships and Asian qualifying tournaments. The qualifying window was set from July 2018 to June 6, 2021.
But the Singapore 2015 Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist admitted he would be shooting in Tokyo as an underdog.
“It’s really hard to be an underdog, but who knows? Just like what happened to our basketball team the other day,” said Valdez, referring to the national men’s team’s 81-78 queaker of a victory over South Korea in the International Basketball Federation Asia Cup Qualifiers last Wednesday in Clark.
“It can also happen to me, to anyone, even in the Olympics,” he said. A Customs Administration graduate at the Adamson University, Valdez said the Olympics was no longer in his radar, until that phone call.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” he said. “I was already focused on the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games [in November], until I got that great, great news.”
“Now, I have to train very hard to be more consistent, to be more precise with every move, with every breath, with every bullet,” said Valdez, who will be training for the Olympics at the Marine headquarters in Fort Bonifacio. “And you have to be more calibrated in everything you do.”
Valdez was all geared up to follow his dad Julius’s footsteps.
Julius Valdez, who also stands as his coach, is a retired Army Second Lieutenant. As an athlete, he owns the distinction as the best Filipino in air rifle, having won three Southeast Asian Games gold medals laced by one silver.
Julius Valdez, 61, never went to the Olympics, making him a very proud dad especially on Father’s Day Sunday. And same with his mom Marlyn, 51, a teacher at the Sun Valley Elementary School in Parañaque.
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