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Stop Calling Alex Eala’s Asian Games Medal “Bronze Lang”
Do you guys know what it takes to win an Asian Games medal? .
Like genuinely, do we understand how many years of training, sacrifice, missed occasions, injuries, early mornings, late nights, expenses, losses, and repetitions it takes just to reach that level of competition?
Because Alex Eala just brought home another Asian Games medal for the Philippines, and somehow there are still people looking at results like these and focusing on why it wasn’t gold.
Maybe this hits differently for me because I used to be a national athlete. Growing up, I was often a multi-gold medalist in our province. There were competitions where I would go home with eight gold medals from eight events, which sounds amazing because it was. Then you qualify for the national level, suddenly the competition gets exponentially harder, and those eight gold medals can turn into one or two bronze medals. I still remember classmates asking me, “Bakit bronze lang?” HAHAHA. Crazy, right? Because from their perspective, I went from winning everything to “only” getting bronze. What they didn’t see was that I was now racing against athletes who were also the best from wherever they came from.
That is the part people sometimes forget about elite sport. The higher you go, the more incredible everyone around you becomes. You can be one of the best athletes in your province, your region, even your entire country, and then walk into an international competition where almost everyone else has a similar story. Everyone trained. Everyone sacrificed. Everyone wants that medal. You can do almost everything right and still finish fifth because four other athletes happened to be better that day.
I experienced that too when I became a national athlete. I trained with everything I had and pushed myself as far as I possibly could, sometimes even to the point of injury, because representing the Philippines really does feel that serious when you are the one wearing the flag. Even at the SEA Games level, I remember doing everything I could possibly do and still placing fifth. No medal. No podium. But I knew exactly how much work it took just to be there, and how much everyone else around me had sacrificed to get there too.
So when we are talking about an Asian Games medal, please understand the scale of what that means. Alex Eala did not simply show up, play a few matches, and happen to come home with bronze.
A medal like that sits on top of years and years of work. There are things athletes give up that spectators will never see. There are birthdays, trips, weekends, relationships, normal school experiences, rest days, and countless little choices that get traded for training because there is always another competition and another level you are trying to reach.
That is why I really want to say: lay off Alex Eala. HAHAHA. She just brought home a medal for the Philippines. But honestly, for that matter, lay off every national athlete. I know how badly athletes want to perform well when they represent the country. Most of them do not need strangers reminding them that they could have done better, because I promise you, they have probably replayed every mistake in their own heads more times than anyone watching from home ever will.
There is also something strange about how we treat athletes in this country. We expect greatness, but so much of the support tends to arrive after someone has already proven they are great. Once there is a medal, suddenly there are congratulations, features, sponsorship offers, incentives, interviews, and brands wanting to be associated with the athlete.
But where was everybody when that athlete was still trying to qualify?
Where was the support when they were finishing fifth, recovering from injuries, looking for better equipment, or simply trying to stay in the sport long enough to reach their potential?
And when I say support, I mean actual support. Government funding, better facilities, access to sports science and rehabilitation, quality coaching, international exposure, and brands willing to invest in athletes before their names are already trending. Fans matter too. Instead of putting all that passion into demanding medals and criticizing athletes after losses, imagine putting that energy into supporting them throughout the process.
Because you cannot expect greatness when support only comes after you are great.
Winning gold is incredible. Winning silver is incredible. Winning bronze is incredible. Even making it to an event like the Asian Games is something most athletes will never achieve. That does not mean athletes should stop aiming higher, and it does not mean we cannot talk about performance. It just means we need perspective about what we are actually watching.
So yes, celebrate Alex Eala’s medal. Celebrate the athletes who make the podium, and support the ones who do not. Support them before the medal, after the medal, and especially during the years when nobody is paying attention yet.
There is no “lang” in an Asian Games bronze medal.
