PH boxer from UB gets IOC grant for Paris Olympics

March 27, 2022 Metro BLISTT

University of Baguio student Aira Villegas is one of the seven athletes that include World No. 5 pole vaulter EJ Obiena have been granted the Olympic Solidarity Scholarships (OSS) by the International Olympic Committee.
The Tacloban-born Villegas, a member of the Philippine boxing team, who won a bronze medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, is one of the two boxers to receive the grant amounting to US$833 or around PhP45,000 a month until the 2024 Paris Olympics or about 48 months. The other boxer is Rogen Ladon.
The bantamweight Villegas said that she hopes to make it to the Olympics after getting cut out in the Tokyo Olympics where her weight category was not included. The Philippine Olympic Committee through its president Abraham Tolentino made the announcement this week that golfer Rianne Malixi, weightlifter Elreen Ando, fencer Samantha Catantan, BMX’s Patrick Coo, skateboarder Jericho Francisco, and wrestler Allen Arcilla will receive the IOC grants.
However, of the seven, only the 26-year-old Obiena was not endorsed by his national sports association due to his feud with the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association. The PATAFA has been suspended by the POC recently.
“The POC wishes to congratulate these nine promising athletes for earning scholarships as they focus on their qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics,” said Tolentino in a release adding that it is the first time that the country has such numbers of scholars.
He added that the IOC is still respecting and honoring the decision of the national Olympic committees due to the inclusion of Obiena. The grant would allow the athletes access to appropriate training facilities, a coach who specializes in their respective disciplines, regular medical and scientific assistance and control, accident and illness insurance, board and lodging costs, pocket money and most essentially travel costs for the athletes’ participation in relevant competitions and Paris 2024 qualification events.
The OSS is an IOC program that aims to assist elite athletes selected and proposed by their respective NOCs in their preparation and qualification for the Summer Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.
“All these athletes need to do is to focus on their training and set their goal toward the Paris Olympics,” said Tolentino. He added that the POC will liquidate the athletes’ expenses to the Olympic Solidarity on a quarterly schedule based on the submission of reports by the scholars and their NSAs.
Pigeon Lobien/ABN