WHO WOULD have thought that sibling rivalry would lead to the discovery of one of the best UAAP talents in Season 72?
Taekwondo Jin Marlon Avenido, the league’s reigning Athlete of the Year, could have been a hard court hero like his brother. But wanting to step out of his brother’s shadow, he opted to push his luck in a different field.
“I thought that if I could not beat him (in basketball), I’ll just try other sports,” he said.
With just two years of experience as part of the UST squad, this Behavioral Science major was already hailed as the Most Valuable Player in UAAP after dominating the mid-heavyweight division.
As a rookie, he was also a vital cog in the 2008 line-up that won the championship, after being denied for a possible “six-peat” by Far Eastern University the previous year.
At the tender age of 11, he was urged by his childhood friends to join a taekwondo summer clinic in Lamitan, Basilan. What followed was a new chapter in Avenido’s sporting career, one that he couldn’t have predicted.
From then on, he learned to love the sport, a passion evident in the gold medal he received in the 2001 National Batang Pinoy tilt and the silver medal he gained in the 2005 Palarong Pambansa.
He also bagged several awards in international competitions, like a gold medal in Southeast Asian Taekwondo Championships in Laos, and the two silver medals he received in the Asian Martial Arts Games in Thailand.
Avenido dreams of following the footsteps of his idols Tshomlee Go and Donald Geisler, who eventually went on representing the country in the Olympics.
Thomasian way
Avenido was a sophomore at the Western Mindanao State University when he took the next big step to fulfilling his dreams—playing for UST in the UAAP.
He said he chose UST because of its outstanding record in the league. Since 1999, the Tiger Jins have bagged eight championship titles, the most number of gold in the past 11 years.
“UST was the strongest school in taekwondo,” he said. “When I was asked what school to enter, I never thought of going to other universities.”
During his first months in Manila, Avenido struggled to adapt to his new environment because of the shift from province life to city life. Eventually, his newfound friends helped him adjust to the atmosphere.
Avenido still has three years to compete in the UAAP and he hopes continue contributing medals for the team in upcoming competitions. Besides the competition, he said being part of the team also taught him the invaluable lesson of time management.
“You train when it is time for training. There is time for academics and there is time for friends,” he said.
As of press time, he is training with the national team for the Asian Taekwondo Championship competition that will be held in Kazakhstan next month. The young jin will represent the Philippines in the welterweight division.
