A total of 656 athletes will don the Philippine tri-colors during the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Hanoi, Vietnam in May.
This was revealed by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and there is an increase in the number of athletes for the Philippine delegation in the SEA Games that was postponed from December to May due to the COVID-19 uptrend in the region.
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Earlier in January, the POC expected 627 athletes to compete in the biennial meet.
The Philippines will try to top the medal tally, which it achieved in the 2019 SEA Games in Manila and received a total of 387 medals: 149 gold medals, 117 silver medals, and 121 bronze medals after 1,115 Filipino athletes competed in the games.
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POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said that majority of the 39 national sports associations, which are fielding athletes to Vietnam have submitted tentative rosters for the May 12 to 25 Games.
“Comparing the numbers when we hosted the Games in 2019, we’ll have a delegation that’s slashed almost in half from three years ago. And a quick look at the numbers show we’ll be hard-pressed to repeat as overall champions. But we’ll have a fighting team in Vietnam, setting aside the difficulties of training and competing or training overseas because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tolentino.
