Chef de mission Ricky Vargas has begun preparations in the US for Los Angeles 2028, as the Philippine contingent aims to set a "better and more equipped" training camp for the Olympics.
With three years still to go before the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, chef de mission Ricky Vargas has already begun laying the groundwork, ensuring that Filipino athletes are fully prepared in their quest to bring home more medals.
The affable executive went on a three-day visit to Los Angeles scouring potential training facilities, hospitality venues, and accommodations for the Philippine delegation.
“Other countries have started to check out the same things so we’re actually not early,” said Vargas, who was joined by Cignal First Vice President and Head of Channels and Content Sienna Olaso and Cignal Vice President for Sports Business Development Miguel Vea in the trip.
“We’ve done the first round. In February, we’ll do another round and hope to finalize details. One of our goals is to confirm a training site which we hope will be better and more equipped than in Metz, where we set up camp before the Paris Olympics.”
Campuses such as Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University, and UCLA are among the candidate sites for training camps as they offer world-class facilities for our national athletes.
UCLA, for one, offers a sprawling 400-acre campus which will house around 80-percent of the Olympic Village.
Vargas shared that the plan is to bring a delegation of 20 to 25 athletes, along with their coaches and trainers, to camp in Los Angeles a month before the Games to maximize preparation and fast track their acclimation.
Aside from the training sites, Vargas inspected potential hospitality and event centers for the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), where guests and supporters may be hosted during the Games.
Among those options were The Petersen Automotive Museum and the Film Academy Museum, while 20 hotel rooms are also set to be booked in a central location to house key officials and staff.
The group also paid a courtesy call on Philippine Consul General in Los Angeles Adelio Cruz and met with the Consulate’s Management Committee to explore ways of rallying support from the Filipino community in Southern California.
There, three potential sponsors were introduced to Vargas with plans of making a community campaign with the goal of rallying support and galvanizing Filipino presence for the delegation during the Games.
“This is just the beginning,” he said. “Our goal is to provide our athletes with the best possible environment to train, prepare, and ultimately represent the Philippines with pride at the Los Angeles Olympics.”
The Philippines is riding high after taking home gold medals in the last two stagings of the Olympic Games, with weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz breaking through in Tokyo 2020 and gymnast Carlos Yulo winning two golds in Paris 2024.
The 34th Summer Olympic Games will take place in Los Angeles from July 14 to 30, 2028.