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MANILA, Philippines – With the focus of an eagle swooping down on its prey, 16-year-old Gabriel Moreno zeroed in on his target 70 meters away. The bow string smudged his lip slightly as he pulled back but he never lost sight of the goal.
Then he released: a direct hit, closer to dead-center than all 3 previous archers had achieved. That result, against a tandem from Finland and Canada, earned Moreno and his Chinese partner Li Jiaman entry to the final round of the mixed team archery event, where they’d have to once again show their mettle to earn top honors at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games.
Needing just a draw to win, Moreno and Jiaman left no room for dispute, defeating Cynthia Freywald (Germany) and Mohamad Zolkepeli (Malaysia) with a total score of 113-105.
The video of the event can be viewed here.
“I was actually very nervous,” admitted Moreno, who was the first Filipino to win a medal at an Olympic event since boxer Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco took silver at the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996. “I was very pressured because [Jiaman] was in the top 4 or 3 and I was ranked 30. I just did my best and I didn’t expect to win. I really didn’t expect anything.”
Moreno, who is the grandson of famed TV host German “Kuya Germs” Moreno, qualified for the Games, which are sanctioned by the International Olympic committee, by winning a qualifier in Taipei. He also made waves at the 2013 Palarong Pambansa by winning gold in Dumaguete.
The finish, though not counting towards the national count because it was a mixed nation event, was the first gold win for a Filipino in a medal event.
Arianne Cerdena topped the women’s bowling event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and Willy Wang took gold in Wushu at Beijing 2008. Both were competing in demonstration events that weren’t counted towards medal tally. – Rappler.com
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