Olympic qualifier pole vault Ernest John Obiena, who is in Italy, didn’t heed his Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov advice to visit Manila and spend the Holiday Season with his family so he can continue training for next year’s Summer Games in Tokyo.

And so did world gymnastic champion Carlos Yulo, who opted to remain in Tokyo for the same purpose – make himself ready in his attempt of gifting the Philippines its first ever Olympic gold medal in 96 years.