LAOAG City—Under a blazing morning sun, Chrisia Mae Tajarros found comfort in wearing her spiked, orange shoes to a gold-medal win, the first one at stake, at the start of the 2025 Palarong Pambansa on Monday at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium in Laoag, Ilocos Norte.
Last year, the Eastern Visayas star Tajarros was barefoot when she chased eventual winner Asia Paraase of Cebu City to the finish line and ended up as runner-up in the secondary girls’ 3,000-meter run.
But wearing comfortable footwear gave the 13-year-old Tajarros the grip she needed on the paved oval’s surface as she reached the finish line in 10 minutes, and 18.6 seconds.
Mary Mae Magbanua of Caraga Region fell behind by 30 seconds to claim the silver medal with a time of 10:48.4, while local favorite Nathalei Miguel of Ilocos Region took the bronze after finishing in 10 minutes and 50.4 seconds.
“Wala pa akong sapatos last year, pero pinagsuot na po ako ni coach ng sapatos nu’ng handa kami para dito sa Batang Pinoy at the Vietnam (ASEAN School Games),” said Tajarros, an eight grade student athlete at the Tanauan National High School in Tacloban.
The Leyte Sports Academy standout first cried tears of sadness for not breaking the meet record, but got consoled by his coach Damaso Oledan for still claiming the gold.
Meanwhile, Jalajala, Rizal’s Matthew Diaz snared the first gold medal stake in the secondary boys’ 48-kg weightlifting meet at the Laoag City Central School.
The 14-year-old Diaz beamed with pride after heaving a total of 166 kgs.
“Sobrang saya. Hindi ko expect ito na makuha ang ang gintong medalya. Kasi ay hindi ko kilala ang mga kalaban ko,” said Matthew, a nephew of tournament organizer and Olympic gold medallist Hidilyn Diaz.
With Diaz’s feat giving a Region IV-A a gold medal, Generoso Cortez handed Region 9 a silver with his 145-kg heave in second place, while Rey Espina (NCR) settled for the bronze (131).
