1:15 am | Tuesday, August 7th, 2012
LONDON—Daniel Caluag finally took in the hitherto secret track that will host cycling’s BMX competition at the London Olympics here Wednesday. And he liked what he saw.
“Oh, it’s fantastic,” the 25-year-old Filipino-American rider said Sunday night after organizers briefly opened the track to the select 32 entries in the event. “It has a unique character. It will be fun out there.”
Caluag, accompanied by his wife and mechanic Stephanie and coach James Richardson, walked through the BMX venue inside the Olympic Park, a 450-meter dirt track featuring an eight-meter down ramp, sharp corners and an S-bend transfer.
The son of physicians from Bulacan and Nueva Ecija said the United States team barred him in May from training with its riders in Chula Vista, California, where the Americans had built an exact copy of the London track. The British last week accused the Americans of “course espionage” for stealing the course design.
Caluag, the four-time No. 1 pro in the US, said he knows the majority of the starting field but is not intimidated.
“They’re practically the same people whom I’ve competed with,” he said.
Heading the list of favorites in cycling’s most exhilarating event is Australian Sam Willoughby, the world No. 1 who topped the Birmingham world championships in June and for three consecutive years from 2008 was the World Cup champion. Then there is defending Olympic champion Maris Strombergs of Latvia.
“I’d like to enjoy the moment and compete at the same time,” said Caluag, the only Asian in the competition.
Tags: BMX competition , Daniel Caluag , London 2012 Olympics
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| POS | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | United States | 46 | 29 | 29 | 104 |
| 2 | China | 38 | 27 | 23 | 88 |
| 3 | Great Britain | 29 | 17 | 19 | 65 |
| 4 | Russia | 24 | 26 | 32 | 82 |
| 5 | South Korea | 13 | 8 | 7 | 28 |
| 6 | Germany | 11 | 19 | 14 | 44 |
| 7 | France | 11 | 11 | 12 | 34 |
| 8 | Italy | 8 | 9 | 11 | 28 |
| 9 | Hungary | 8 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
| 10 | Australia | 7 | 16 | 12 | 35 |
The Philippines will shoot for its first gold medal in six of the following events in the 2012 London Olympics: Athletics, BMX, Boxing, Cycling, Shooting and Swimming.
Arianne Cerdena won a gold in bowling at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but Cerdena's gold was not included in the medal tally since bowling was considered only as a demonstration sport.
The Philippines last reached the final round swimming 80 years ago when Jikirum Adjaluddin and Teofilo Yldefonso ended up in the final six in the 1932 Los Angeles Games.
Harry Tañamor, the only Filipino predicted to win by the Sports Illustrated in its Olympic Preview edition, bows out in the first match up in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Philippine basketball team wound up fifth place—best finish for an Asian country in the Olympics to date—in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the first time basketball was played as an Olympic sport.
The Philippines is the first nation in the tropics to ever participate in the Winter Olympic Games.
1972 was the last year the Philippine men's basketball team, which then paraded William 'Bogs' Adornado, Danny Florencio and Yoyong Martirez among others in its line up, has qualified for the Olympics.
The Philippines holds the record for winning the most medals without a gold haul with seven bronze and two silvers for a total of nine.
John Baylon, a nine-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, and Jerry Diño were the last Filipino Olympic qualifiers in the discipline Judo, having vied in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
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The Philippines is the first country to compete and win an Olympic medal among Southeast Asian countries.
Mary Antoinette Rivero's tie for fifth place in Taekwondo is the closest any Filipino athlete came to a medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
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