THE country is targeting to have 560 athletes competing in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam later this year.
This was shared by Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino after the meeting of the POC executive board on Thursday.
Filipino athletes will be competing in 520 events in 38 of the 40 sports in the Vietnam SEA Games set for Nov. 21 to Dec. 2.
The POC head, however, said the number could still be reduced as they are basically entries by numbers culled from discussions with the various national sports associations early this week.
“The basis of selection primarily hinged on those athletes who won medals [of any color] in the 2019 SEA Games that we hosted,” Mr. Tolentino said.
Adding, “We also looked at events where the potential of winning the gold medal is very high, as justified by an athlete or athletes performance in 2019.”
In 2019, the Philippines fielded a delegation of 1,115 athletes en route to the country winning the overall championship in the biennial sporting meet after 14 years.
It is a feat that Team Philippines hopes to duplicate come the Games in Hanoi.
The Vietnam organizers set a March 21 deadline for the submission of entries by numbers. The deadline for the entries by names is in August. – Michael Angelo S. Murillo