Filipino medalists at the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games received iPhone 18 models from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) in recognition of their achievements at the continental sports competition.
The athletes received the phones during the POC’s fourth General Assembly of the year at the East Ocean Palace in Parañaque City on Thursday.
POC President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino thanked SportsPlus for providing 49 of the 53 phones distributed to the medalists, including three iPhone Duo units for gold medalists, 11 iPhone Pro Max units for silver medalists and 35 iPhone Pro units for bronze medalists.
The phones, each with 512 gigabytes of storage, represented about P7 million in rewards, Tolentino said. Members of team sports that won medals also received individual units.
“All the athletes that won a medal here are so happy to get a new iPhone 18 model through the help of SportsPlus, and we are all thankful for their generosity. That is a total of P7 million because even all members of team sports that won a medal have an iPhone each,” Tolentino said.
The Philippines won 29 medals at the Games, including four golds, nine silvers and 16 bronzes.
Gold medalists included gymnast Carlos Yulo, pole vaulter EJ Obiena and taekwondo jin Jeus Yape. Yulo, a double gold medalist at the Paris Olympics, won two golds at the Asian Games.
Yulo and his younger brother, Karl Eldrew, did not attend the presentation because they were competing at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in the Netherlands. Obiena was training in Athens, while tennis player Alex Eala was in China for the WTA 500 Ningbo Open.
Yape expressed gratitude for the reward but said he would keep his old phone.
“Very thankful I have a new iPhone that I can use, but I will keep my old phone,” Yape said.
Mixed martial arts medalist Jean Claude Saclag said he planned to give his iPhone Pro Max to his wife, Rochelle, a nurse, when he returned home to Kalinga.
“I will give this iPhone Pro Max to my wife when I come home to Kalinga,” Saclag said. “Feeling so blessed with this reward.”
Aside from the phones, gold medalists will receive P2 million each in government cash incentives through the Philippine Sports Commission. Silver medalists are set to receive P1 million each, while bronze medalists will get P400,000 each.
During the same assembly, the POC granted regular membership to Pilipinas Climbing, the Philippine Kabaddi Federation and the Philippine Mixed Martial Arts Federation.
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