Philippine golfer Dottie Ardina on Tuesday, August 13, bared her experience and frustration with their Olympic Games apparel on social media, explaining how they received outfits and gears that did not follow Olympic rules, or did not fit them properly at all.
She made the lengthy post on social media after Team Philippines returned to the country after the Olympic Games.
"Talagang KULANG KULANG. Bakit parang ako pa ang binaliktad?"
"Gumawa na kami ng paraan para magmukha kaming ka respe-respeto dito, at sa huli ako pa ang parang sinisisi," she wrote. "Ako po ay walang masamang intensyon."
Ardina also appealed to organizers and officials to improve their communication and logistics for future Philippine golfers at the Olympics.
How the issue became viral
The issue surfaced Friday, August 9, after Round 3 of the tournament. A video of Ardina went viral, as she was seen affixing the Philippine flag on her top with double-sided tape.
"Doblehin natin tape, baka mamaya matuklap 'to, mahirap na," she said. "Sana all may uniform, kami lang wala. Kailangan pang bumili ng t-shirt."
"Shoutout naman dyan sa mga walang nagbigay, asan na ba uniform namin?" Ardina added. "Kami lang walang uniform, tuklap-tuklap pa."
On Tuesday night, Dottie explained the video was posted by her mother.
The golfer chose not to say anything more about the issue at first because they were in the middle of competition.
But she decided to air her side now because of negative reaction to what happened.
POC statement: Items stuck with courier, apparel lacked flag, wrong sizes
In a statement released Saturday, August 10, the Philippine Olympic Committee explained that there was a set of competition uniforms designed for the golfers before the Olympics began.
"We told them that golf is different. They understood and sent us a visual deck of the proposed uniforms. We informed them of the logo rules as well," the statement attributed to POC president Bambol Tolentino read.
These would apparently be shipped to Paris by July 31. But the package sent on August 3 only contained tracksuits, t-shirts, and caps, but no competition gear such as playing tops, bottoms, and shoes.
"They traced the items and found that there were still items stuck with DHL," Tolentino said.
"So they decided to purchase the clothing locally in Paris, based on the sizes submitted by the players previously," the POC statement added. However, the Philippine flag was still required on the apparel.
"So they made the effort to get them printed. They found a place but didn't have the capability of printing flags. So they did the second option, which was to print our Olympic country code," the POC statement read.
Unfortunately, when the clothes were delivered to the golfers, only one fit Ardina. It was at this point that she decided to buy tops.
[ALSO READ: POC clarifies golfers' apparel issue during Paris 2024]
Dottie Ardina's experience
Ardina explained the POC asked her to fill up a form regarding her uniform size as early as June 13. The national sports federation, the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP), asked her on July 28 regarding the logistics of sending her uniforms and golf bag since Ardina was flying out on August 1 from the United States to France.
These would apparently be sent straight to Paris by July 31.
"Medyo kinabahan po ako dahil August 7 ang start ng competition. Paano kung mali ang size or hindi maayos ang fitting?" she thought. Ardina said she chose to pack plain shirts in case. So did teammate Bianca Pagdanganan.
There were no uniforms by August 2. When she, her caddie, and her coach registered on the morning of August 4 for the golf course, they were apparently berated by International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials that they should be wearing their uniforms.
A package did arrive on August 4, but it did not contain any competition apparel--only tracksuits.
Ardina said she received word of competition gear "to be produced locally in Paris".
"Dalawang collared shirts lang na white and black na hindi talaga pang golf pero napilitan kong suotin sa practice round (August 5 and 6) dahil kailangan na terno kami ng teammate ko," she recounted.
The new shirts did arrive by August 5 but these were in "assorted brands and sizes."
"Hindi kami terno ng teammate ko. May ibang shirts PAREHONG MALIIT sa amin. Hindi lang sa AKIN. Ang mas pangit pa, MALI ang stamp ng logo na PHI dahil nasa ilalim ng collar at natatakpan ito," Ardina recounted. "WALA din pong na provide na golf balls, head covers, gloves, at golf umbrella."
"August 6 ng gabi before tournament day, pumunta ako sa mall para bumili ng umbrella at two shirts at nagpabili rin ang teammate ko para TERNO kami sa competition katulad ng ibang bansa at ayon na rin sa IOC rules."
That was why Ardina and Pagdanganan wore their plain shirts and affixed their flag patch with double-sided tape.
Apparently, fellow golfers from other countries noticed how their patches were peeling off prompting them to ask: "You did not get uniforms?" "Thats a lot of tapes. They did not provide you head covers?"
Ardina also recounted how they were once again told off by IOC officials during practice because their club head covers featured private companies instead of the national flag. This was why they had to cover them with duct tape.
"Nang tanungin kung bakit di nagawa yung covers o bakit disapproved ng IOC ang unang design ng uniforms na may tamang logos, ang sagot nila sa amin ay mahirap daw mag-comply sa rules ng IOC kaya nagkamali sa uniforms at di nila alam na iba na ang rules para sa head covers," she wrote in her post. "Tanggap ko na lang po iyon. Pero kami lang po ang nag-iisang team sa buong Olympics na walang uniforms."
Dottie's appeal
Ardina, who finished at joint 13th with a personal tournament-best of 4-under-par 68 in round 4, said she is making the post not just to clarify her side but to help improve the situation for future Olympic golfers.
"Sana magkaroon ng maayos na COMMUNICATION sa pagitan ng mga officials na naka-assign at sa mga atleta na maglalaro sa susunod na Olympics," she wrote.
"Sarili ko at ng sponsors ko ang gastos at akin ang hirap at pagod para maghanda at mag qualify. Dumating na lang po kaming Olympians na at handang lumaban para sa bayan."
She and Bianca Pagdanganan--who finished fourth--did in fact provide the best finish for Philippine golfers in the Olympic Games.
[ALSO READ: Dottie Ardina hopes to get another crack at the Olympics after commendable debut in Paris 2024]
"Ang gusto ko lang naman po ay maayos at mag mukhang presentable kami bilang atleta ng bayan at para din mataas ang tingin ng ibang bansa sa Pilipinas," she added.
"Para sa akin po, ang pag compete sa Olympics ay napaka laking karangalan na ipakita ang HUSAY ng Pinoy at representa ang bandila ng Pilipinas sa buong mundo sa larangan ng golf. Ako po ay nagdarasal at umaasa na sana ay lubusan naming nagampanan namin ito."