
Fil-American Patrick Coo missed a berth in the Tokyo Olympics after yielding to veteran rivals in the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Bogota, Colombia over the weekend.
Coo, the only Asian and youngest competitor at 19 years old, wound up 42nd among 62 participants in the Stage 3 qualifiers Saturday, May 29, then settled for 45th in Stage 4 Sunday, May 30.
Joris Daudet of France topped both rounds to assure his slot to the Olympics.
Coo, the Asian juniors champion two years ago, said he will continue his dream of making it to the Olympics for the Philippine team someday in the coming months and years.
“I’m always proud to represent the Philippines in any competitions abroad. I’ll give it another shot,” said Coo, who had foregone his classification as an under-23 ride to an elite competitor to vie for an Olympic slot.
The California-based rider also said it was a last-minute decision and despite debuting in his biggest tournament to date with big expectations, he tried his best.
“It was hard. My best wasn’t good enough, but I really gave our all,” Coo said.
Philippine Olympic Committee and Philcycling chief Bambol Tolentino still lauded Coo’s efforts, confident that the teen rider still has a promising career ahead.
“He’s still young and he’s got a lot of BMX racing ahead of him,” Tolentino said.
Daniel Caluag, the 2014 Asian Games champion who competed at the 2012 London Olympics, skipped the qualifier as he is not in competitive shape due to serving as a frontliner nurse in Kentucky during the pandemic.
Coo is expected to compete more tournaments in the United States before seeing action in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam and the 2022 Asian Games in China.