Olivia "Bong" Coo
| Olivia BONG Coo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 3, 1948 |
| Nationality |
Filipino  |
| Occupation | Retired, Sporting Apparel Design Consultant |
| Known for |
Most bemedalled Filipino Athlete |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Spouse(s) | Eduardo Coo |
| Children | Edward, Edilbert |
| Website | |
| http://www.bongcoo.thebowler.com.ph | |
Olivia "Bong" Coo is a world renowned tenpin bowling athlete from the Philippines. She is the most bemedalled Filipino athlete per Philippine Republic Act 9064 [1] also known as "Athletes Incentives Act of 2001". Her career with the national team has earned for Philippines 78 medals broken down to 37 gold, 23 silver and 18 bronze, and won a total of 135 championship titles [2] with at least one Masters title for 28 consecutive years. She added two Seniors Master Titles in 2008 at age 60 and in 2012 at 64.
She is 4-time World Champion and the first Filipino athlete listed in the Guinness Book of World Records; and one of the inaugural member to the International Bowling Hall of Fame [3] St. Louis Missouri in 1993 with compatriot Paeng Nepomuceno (the Hall of Fame relocated to Arlington, Texas in 2010).[4]
In its November 2013 100 year anniversary issue, the prestigious Bowlers Journal International named Bong Coo one of the "Greatest International Bowlers of All-Time".
She is the only bowling athlete who has won the All Events titles in regional level, Asian Zone level and world level championships in major quadrennial and biennial bowling competitions as well as owned the All Events records on those tournaments at one time in 1986 -
- Tenpin bowling's most prestigious event, the Quadrennial World Championships Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs FIQ World Championship now WTBA World Tenpin Bowling Championships, consecutive in 1979 and 1983[5][6]
- Quadrennial Asian Games, consecutive in 1978[7] and 1986[8]
- Biennial Zone Championships (Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs now Asian Bowling Federation Championship), 14 years apart 1972 and 1986
- Biennial South East Asian Games, consecutive in 1981 and 1983
She was named the World Bowling Writers Female Bowler of the Year in 1986
Bong Coo also won the Bowling World Cup (1979),[9] Asian Games Singles and Masters (1978),[10][11] the FIQ Zone Championships Masters (twice, 20 years apart 1972 and 1992), the FIQ Zone Championships Singles (twice 1978 and 1984) and the South East Asian Games Masters (1981).[12]
She won the most gold medals in the biennial Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) Zone Championships now known as the Asian Bowling Championships, with 14 gold medals in 12 consecutive tournament participation. Her Zone Masters titles were acknowledged by the World Bowling Writers Hall of Fame Committee equivalent to world medals. To this day she still holds the most gold medals won in the FIQ Zone Championships in one celebration with 5 gold medals in 6 events.
She won the nation's most gold medal in the quadrennial Asian Games 63-year history, winning five gold medals;.[13][14] No other Asian bowling athlete won more gold medals in the Asian Games.
Bong Coo achieved what experts believe to be a historic record by winning all the individual events at the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok Thailand.
In 2000, she was voted one of the Philippines Athlete of the Millennium and was awarded an Achievement Diploma by the International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch in recognition of her outstanding contribution in promoting the development and participation of women and girls in sports. She was also named one of the Ten Outstanding Women for the Nations Service (TOWNS) in 1986. The TOWNS award is conferred every three years by the TOWNS Foundation on Filipino women who have rendered outstanding service to the nation.
Retired from active competition, she teaches Sport Bowling since 2002 under the Department of Human Kinetics at the University of the Philippines and Colegio de San Juan de Letran where bowling is included in the Physical Education curriculum.
A major bowing ball manufacturer released the MVP-Bong Coo ball in 2001 and in 2003, they are approved by the USBC for use in international competitions.[15] In 2003, the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) bowlers honored her through the Filipino bowlers of UAE in the "Bong Coo MVP Cup" [16] participated in by OFW's from Brunei, Malaysia, Guam, California, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Singapore. She provides free bowling training to youth bowlers from OFW families.
Summary of Awards and achievements
- 4-time World Champion
- First Filipino Athlete listed in the Guinness Book of World Records
- Inaugural member to the World Bowling Writers International Bowling Hall of Fame (1993) at the International Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA with compatriot Paeng Nepomuceno (in 2010 the Hall of Fame Museum moved to Arlington, Texas)
- One of the "Greatest International Bowlers of All-Time" by the Bowlers Journal International Bowling Lists 100 Year Celebration, Nov. 2013
- Selected to the "Top 24 International Bowlers of All-Time" by the Bowlers Journal International edition, Sept. 2004
- Most bemedalled Filipino athlete per Republic Act 9064 "Athletes Incentives Act of 2001"
- Most bemedalled Filipino athlete of all time with 78 international medals in regional and world events where she competed as a member of the national squad, broken down to 37 gold, 23 silver and 18 bronze
- Most gold medals won by a Filipino athlete in the quadrennial Asian Games with five
- Most bemedalled Filipino athlete in the Asian Games in one celebration 1978 held in Bangkok, Thailand
- Most Gold Medal in the biennial Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) Zone Championships with 14 in 12 consecutive participation in 28 years
- Most Gold Medal won in Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) Zone Championships in one celebration 5 gold medals in 6 events
- Most successful Filipino campaigner in the 1981 South East Asian Games Held in Manila with 4 gold and 2 silver medals in 6 events
- First bowler to win in two different world tournaments in a year
- Total of 137 bowling tournament titles
- Won at least one Masters title for 28 consecutive years.
- Named "Athlete of the Millennium" by the Philippine Sportswriters Association in 2000
- Awarded an Achievement Diploma by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch in 2000 in recognition of her outstanding contribution in promoting the development and participation of women and girls in sports
- Only repeat All Events Champion in the quadrennial World Championships (consecutive - 4 years apart)
- Only repeat All Events Champion in the quadrennial Asian Games (consecutive - 8 years apart)
- Only repeat Women All Events Champion in the Asian Zone Championships (14 years apart)
- First repeat All Events Champion in the South East Asian Games (consecutive)
- World Bowling Writers World Bowler of the year in 1986, the WBW has a membership of over 300 bowling writers worldwide
- Federation Internationale des Quilleurs Woman Bowler of Year for 1992–1993
- Voted Asia's Most Durable Bowler in 1992
- Held the All Events games records in the national, regional level, and world level championships in biennial and quadrennial games simultaneously in 1986
- Named " Athlete of the Year" Philippine Sportswriters Association in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986[17]
- 13-time Philippine Sportswriters Association Bowler of the Year
- Awarded the Philippine Olympic Medal of Honor in 1983 and Bowler of the Decade
- Named Asia's Bowling Queen in 1972
- Set three world records in consecutive World Championships in 1979 and 1983, one world record in the 1979 World Cup, seven Asian records in the Zone Championships in 1986 and 1992, five Asian records in consecutive Asian Games in 1978 and 1986 and six South East Asian Games records at the SEAG in 1981
- One of the 100 Filipinas featured in Filipina Firsts: A Salute to 100 Women Pioneers 1898-1998
- Only athlete included in the Philippines 100 Women of the Century in 2000
- Chosen one the country's "Inspiring Mothers" by the Family Today Magazine in 2000
- Awarded "Kababaihang Makasaysayan" by the National Centennial Commission- Women Sector – ensured women’s visibility in history and nation building through Global Movement for Herstories, 1999
- Honored in the first ICHPER-SD Asia Conference Sport Covenant for Women - for uplifting the status of women in sports, 1998
- All Filipino Sports Awards Athlete of the Year for Bowling, 1973 and 1975
- Named one of the Ten Outstanding Women for the Nations Service (TOWNS) in 1986. The TOWNS Award is conferred every three years by the TOWNS Foundation on Filipino women who have rendered outstanding service to the nation; The TOWNS Foundation is dynamic group of empowered Filipino women leaders who have contributed positively to shaping the nation’s future and serving as a catalyst for economic and social development by providing their time, talent and resources to government organizations
- Received citations from both houses of Congress in 1993
- Philippine Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame member
References
- ↑ Sports Benefits and Incentives Act of 2001 http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2001/ra_9064_2001.html
- ↑ http://www.frequency.com/video/winningest-bowler-of-all-time-bong-coo/172702474/-/5-10694994
- ↑ http://www.bowlingmuseum.com/Honorees/HallofFamers/IBMALubyAwards.aspx
- ↑ International Bowling Hall Of Fame
- ↑ List of WTBA World Tenpin Bowling Championships medalists List of WTBA World Tenpin Bowling Championships medalists
- ↑ European Tenpin Bowling Federation Championship History World Championships
- ↑ Philippines at the 1978 Asian Games
- ↑ Philippines at the 1986 Asian Games
- ↑ European Tenpin Bowling Federation Championship History World Cup
- ↑ Philippines at the 1978 Asian Games
- ↑ Bowling at the Asian Games Bowling at the Asian Games
- ↑ 1981 South East Asian Games in Manila, Philippines
- ↑ http://www.psamedia.ph/the-philippines-in-the-asian-games/ The Philippines at the Asian Games
- ↑ Bowling at the Asian Games
- ↑ http://usbcongress.http.internapcdn.net/usbcongress/bowl/equipandspecs/pdfs/approved_balllist.pdf
- ↑ http://www.philstar.com/sports/233173/bong-coo-mvp-cup-draws-ofw-bowlers-10-countries
- ↑ http://www.psamedia.ph/awardees/ Philippines Sportswriters Association
Further reading
"Filipina Firsts: A Salute to 100 Women Pioneers 1898-1998" by the Philippine American Foundation
"Sulong Pilipina! Sulong Pilipinas! A Compilation of Filipino Women Centennial Awardees" ISBN 971-91276-5-1 by the National Centennial Commission
"100 Women of the Philippines" ISBN 971-2118-0-6 by Joy Buensalido & Abe Florendo
"The Olympic Movement in the Philippines" ISBN 971-553-476-7 by Celso Limjuco Dayrit