Aleah Finnegan, who won two gold medals in the Vietnam Southeast Asia Games, led the Philippine women’s artistic gymnastics team, but they won’t be competing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2023.
According to Cynthia Carrion, head of gymnastics, women’s gymnastics was removed from the schedule of disciplines, giving a severe setback to the team.
When the SEAG Gymnastic Zone met during the previous Vietnam SEA Games, “we tried to persuade the Cambodians to keep the WAG tournament but they would not budge,” Carrion remarked.
“I and the other nations begged the Cambodian hosts, even offering to give them supplies only to have the women’s artistic gymnastics competitions. Our request was ignored,” she continued.
Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, president of the Philippine Olympic Committee and recently elected mayor of Tagaytay, claimed that he had little choice in the matter because it was Cambodia’s authority to cancel the competition.
Tolentino nonetheless declared he would make an effort to bring up the matter at the SEA Games Federation meeting scheduled to take place in the capital of Cambodia the following month to decide which sports and events will be included in the country’s first-ever hosting of the competition, which will take place from May 5 to 16, 2023.
Six gold medals in gymnastics will no longer be won in Cambodia because of the WAG competition’s absence.
