When air-rifle shooter Jayson Valdez found out he was given a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics, he had barely a month to prepare on top of making sure his documents certifying he passed health standards were all in order. 

After competing, Valdez, who had made up his mind to focus on doing something else full time, realized he could challenge the world’s best shooters if he had ample time to get ready. And after seeing teammate Hidilyn Diaz win gold, he figured why not him?