The Philippines at the 2012 Olympics

It's 100 days to the 2012 London Olympics and we finally have the list of delegates that the Philippines will send to summer games. Taking a closer look however, the Philippines seems to pale in comparison to its South East Asian counterparts when it comes to the games. Even if it was the first South East Asian country to join the Olympics in 1924, the Philippines is yet to bag a gold medal. In fact, it is among the countries sending the fewest delegates to the summer games this year.

Thailand with 7 gold medals, bests other countries in the region and is participating in 9 events this year. The Philippines is only competing in three events this 2012 including boxing where we've won 5 of our overall 9 medals. There seems to be support from the government with the Philippine Olympic Committee having a 30 Million Peso budget for the games but this doesn't explain the small delegation that we're sending.

Analysis aside, let's all throw our full support behind our three delegates - Marestella Torres (Athletics), Mark Barriga (Boxing) and Tomohiko Hoshina (Judo) and as that famous book-to-movie line goes "May the odds be ever in your favor."

Sources:
1. Daily Telegraph - London 2012 Olympics: Country profiles
2. LoadCentral - Beijing 2008 Olympics on Dream Satellite
3. Philippine Star - PSC to put Olympic budget on standby
4. Tempo - Fil-Jap judoka London-bound
5. Philippines at the 2012 Summer Olympics
6. Thailand at the 2012 Summer Olympics
7. Brunei at the 2012 Summer Olympics
8. Myanmar at the 2012 Summer Olympics
9. Cambodia at the 2012 Summer Olympics
10. Chinese Taipei at the 2012 Summer Olympics
11. Hong Kong at the 2012 Summer Olympics
12. Indonesia at the 2012 Summer Olympics
13. Timor-Leste at the 2012 Summer Olympics
14. Malaysia at the 2012 Summer Olympics
15. Singapore at the 2012 Summer Olympics
16. Xinhua - Philippines' Arroyo says first Olympic gold "priceless"
17. (Photo) Onyok Velasco
18. (Photo) Marestella Torres
19. (Photo) Mark Barriga
20. (Photo) Tomohiko Hoshina