CEBU CITY — A soft-spoken boy from Iloilo made the loudest noise in the second day of hostilities of the 64th Palarong Pambansa.
Charles Turla of Western Visayas set a new Palaro record when he registered 60.26 meters in the elementary boys’ javelin throw event on Friday morning at the Cebu City Sports Center here.
Turla, a 12-year-old son of a truck driver and a housekeeper in the small town of San Enrique in Iloilo, made his presence felt as he eclipsed the eight-year old mark of 57.50 meters set by Jerrick Mendoza of CALABARZON in the 2016 edition in Legazpi, Albay.
But what made the feat special was the fact that he registered it in his first time competing in this prestigious regional conclave for elementary and high school student-athletes.
“I’m happy to win the gold medal and break the Palaro record,” said Turla, a shy and unassuming Grade 6 student at the Gines Quinlopan Elementary School.
He said his victory made him hungrier for more success.
“I won’t stop just because I won here.”
Turla’s victory happened on the same day that technical officials discovered that the track oval is short of two meters of the 400-meter required by World Athletics.
With that, the technical officials headed by Jeanette Obiena decided to put on hold any record that will be accomplished in track events like running, hurdles and walking.
She said they already reached out to the contractor — SBD Builders — for the exact measurement of the track oval that was constructed in 1994.
“We are now just waiting for the actual measurement from the contractor who constructed the track oval,” Obiena said.
“We are hoping that the measurements will be done and released soon.”
Meanwhile, Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula dominated dancesport at the GMall of Cebu late Thursday.
Kyle Nathan Ray Fabian and Lediviere Joy Hebron of the Zamboanga Peninsula picked up five gold medals in the juvenile (elementary level) singles in waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, and 5 dance categories.
The Montessori of Zamboanga students were thrilled to get a lot of gold medals in their first Palaro.
“This is the first time I played in the Palaro and I’m happy we got a lot of gold medals,” Fabian said.
“We trained five times a week for this Palaro,” Hebron added.
Also adding to Zamboanga’s medal haul is the couple of Francheska Darwin and Bhenz Semilla after clinching the gold medals in the junior (secondary level) singles of foxtrot, Viennese waltz, tango, and waltz.
The pair of Francis Dave Sombal and Mitchloni Dinauanao teamed up to win the gold medals in the junior Latin singles of paso doble, rumba, chachacha, Grade A - 5 dance, and samba for Central Visayas.
As of 5 p.m., CALABARZON still holds the top spot in the overall medal tally with 19 gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals.
Defending champion National Capital Region remains in second place with a 15-8-13 medal haul while Central Visayas is in third place with a 13-19-6 medal record.