Published July 19, 2021, 1:18 PM
Kurt Barbosa (second from right, seated) (MB Photo)
TOKYO Given his own way, taekwondo jin Kurt Bryan Barbosa of Bangued, Abra would probably be draining three-point shots today and then whooping, instead of delivering Olympic-qualifying double roundhouse kicks and then, well, whooping.
But then that was what his father, a stern-minded police officer in their town, wanted long time ago. And who’s to argue with such parental foresight since the eldest son is now stretched out on a Philippine Airlines business class reclining seat headed for the Tokyo Games?
“Gusto ko sana basketball, nahuhugot nga kami pag may mga laro e,” Barbosa said on arrival at Haneda Airport Sunday afternoon as he and two taekwondo coaches began the labyrinthine process of getting through health protocols, including downloading a tracking app and undergoing a saliva test, before exiting Japanese immigration and on to the Olympic Athletes Village some 30 minutes away