The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) has awarded the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) the Breakthrough NOC Award for the country’s successful medal campaign at the Tokyo Olympics last August.
POC President Bambol Tolentino received the award during the online ceremony held in Heraklion, Greece Sunday.
“The POC is honored to receive this award from the ANOC. It’s been almost a century or after 22 Olympics that we finally won our first Olympic gold medal,” said Tolentino.
The country won its first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo courtesy of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz.
The PH team also went home with the most medals in country’s history with boxers Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam bagging silver and Eumir Marcial winning the bronze.
“This award is not only for the POC, but for the entire country and the 15 other Filipino athletes who gallantly competed in the Tokyo Olympics,” Tolentino said.
The annual ANOC Awards were held for the first time in Bangkok, Thailand in 2014 with a goal of recognizing the accomplishments of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and their athletes.
Bermuda and Qatar also received the same award for winning their first Olympic gold medals in triathlon and weightlifting, respectively. Burkina Faso, San Marino and Turkmenistan were also recognized for clinching their first ever medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, Greek Culture and Sports Minister Lefteris Avgenakis and representatives from the IOC, NOCs, international federations and other Olympic stakeholders attended the awards.
The ANOC also conducted its general assembly where officials from the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing made a presentation.