22. Hurdler-Hero: MIGUEL S. WHITE: Lone Philippine Medalist,1936 Berlin Olympics

The Olympic Games in Berlin unfolded in Germany from Aug. 1-16, 1936. “Hitler’s Olympics” was used by the Nazi leader as a stage to prove the supremacy of the Aryan race. But this quickly unraveled when sprint sensation Jesse Owens, won 4 gold medals in quick succession, and Cornelius Johnson and David Albritton achieved a 1-2 finish in the high jump—all black Americans. Add to this, the extraordinary Bronze achievement of a Filipino-black American MIGUEL S. WHITE in the 400 m. hurdles; modest it may seem, his win was a statement of defiance against racism, from a small country in the Far East.

Of his beginnings, little is known about the Philippines’ greatest hurdler, MIGUEL SOLANO WHITE (b. 9 Oct. 1909/d. 20 Aug. 1942). Born to a black American father and a mother from Legazpi, Albay, Miguel may have filial ties with the political Solanos of Camalig. He was also believed to have spent his growing up years in Sagmin town.

White’s earliest recorded participation in a major meet was at the 1930 Far East Games in Shanghai. He may have already been a Philippine Scout under the U.S. Army at this point, as the army is known for its excellent sports program that has produced many Filipino athletes of international calibre.  At age 23, White won a Bronze Medal in the 400 m. flat race.

White began specializing in the Hurdles event, doing both 110 m. and 400 m. hurdles. On 21 May 1932, the qualifying trials for a slot in the Philippine Olympic team were held, and he was one of those shortlisted to compete. But, of the only 8 spots available, only one was reserved for a track and field athlete, which went to high jumper Simeon Toribio. This did not deter White at all, continuing his  focus on training for the next best thing—the so-called Oriental Olympics—the 1934 Far East Games of Manila.

Under the tutelage of coach Pedro Ablan, he competed in the preliminary rounds held in early April 1934, against the country’s best hurdlers at that era: Constantino Alhambra, Eliseo Dumaliang, Filomeno Lagasca, Carlos Atud and Jesus Roa. White topped the heat and, along with Alhambra, made it to the Far East team.

In the 400 m. finals held in the second week of May, White proved his superiority by winning Gold, registering a blistering time of 53 seconds, outrunning his teammate Constantino Alhambra (Silver) and Masao Ichihara of Japan (Bronze). He extended his winning streak in a June 1935 dual athletic meet held at the Meiji Shrine in Japan when he won the 400 m. Hurdles, the only Filipino to win top honors in an individual event.

By the time the 1936 Philippine trials for the 1936 Olympics came around in April, White was at his peak. He came out as the fastest qualifier of the 400 m. Hurdles event, with a time of 53.8 seconds.

Miguel Solano White was one of 31-man contingent from the Philippines when the 1936 Berlin Olympics opened on 1 Aug. 1936 under the watchful eyes of Chancellor Adolph Hitler. Three days later, White was in the Olympic stadium for the heats of the 400 m. Hurdles. He heralded his presence when he topped his heat in a very fast 53.4 seconds, with American W. Schofield in 2nd. White advanced to the finals

In the finals, the next day—6 finalists reported to the field: two Americans, Glenn Hardin and Joseph Patterson, John Loaring (Canada), Sylvio de Magalhaes Padilha (Brazil), Christos Mantikas (Greece) and Miguel White (Philippines). At the sound of the starting gun, Patterson led the runners, with Hardin, Loaring and White in hot pursuit.

Hardin caught the fading Patterson in the stretch and won by 4 yards at 52.4 secs., with Loaring just a breath away at 52.7 secs., pipping White who came in 3^rd at 52.8 secs.—just .1 from a Silver medal. The unprecedented Bronze was just the 2^nd athletic medal for the Philippines, and the number still stands to this day.

White had another chance to win a medal the next day, August 6, as he was also entered in the shorter 110 m. Hurdles. Running in the last heat, White had a bad start and fell while negotiating the second to the last hurdle. He was painfully injured, and withdrew from the race. It really didn’t matter, as by then, White had made history, and was recognized as an outstanding Olympic performer—the only Filipino to bring home a medal for the Philippines.

White came home a hero, and when things settled, the self-effacing corporal resumed his military duties at Fort McKinley. Other than invitations to run in some tournaments in the country, White seemed to have hung up his running shoes after the 1936 Olympiad, as not much was heard about him until the outbreak of World War II in the Philippines.

It will be recalled that the Philippine Scouts played a crucial role in defending the country from the entry of the Japanese into the country. The young lieutenant was called to service to hold the fort during the first wave of the Japanese invasion of  the Philippines. White went missing in action, but was later ruled to have been killed in action on 20 Aug. 1942. Just like Teofilo Yldefonso, Miguel White was another one of our Olympians to become another tragic casualty of a war.  He was yet to turn 33. 

SOURCES:

Abdon M. Balde Jr. ,“AN ALBAYANO WON A MEDAL IN HITLER’S 1936 BERLIN OLYMPICS”.

David Wallechinsky, The Complete Book of the Olympics, “400-M. Hurdles”, Penguin Books, ©1988, p. 62

The Tribune Newspaper, various issues, 1932-1936: 30 May 1932 (Las Pruebas Olimpicas de Pista Mañana);  4 Apr. 1934 p.13: 16 June 1935, p.30 (“White Wins 400 M. Hurdles”); 21 Apr.1936, p. 7 (“Olympic Tryouts”; 4 Aug. 1936, p.1 “:White Placed 1^st in Heat”); 5 Aug. 1936, p. 6 (“Outstanding Olympic Performer”); 6 Aug. 1936,p. 6 (“White Painfully Injured”).

Graphic Magazine, 10 May 1934, 10th Far Eastern Games, pp. 28-36

Miguel S. White, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_White

 Official Program of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, vol. 1, LA Digital Collection

21. My Most Thrilling Game: AUREO AQUINO, Best Filipino Volleyball Player, Graphic Magazine, 20 Nov. 1929

Here is a reproduced article from Philippine Graphic Magazine, from Nov. 20, 1929, part of "My Most Thrilling Game", a series of sports features based on interviews with our most popular athletes of the 1920s generation.

AUREO AQUINO has been playing volleyball since he was in the fourth grade. From that time till and through his high school days, he captained every team with which he was connected and often led it to championship. It was not long before he began to attract attention and his fame went beyond boundaries of his native province, Laguna.

Finally, his brand of playing made such an impression on competetnt observers that he was asked to represent his country in the Far Eastern Olympics. This was in 1925, and the games were held in Manila.

“It was in the first game against China,” relates Mr. Aquino. “It was my first appearance on the field as an Olympic player and I was naturally excited. Added to this fact was the rumor that had reached us that the Chinese had a srong team.

“I remember very well that I was rather nervous as I donned my uniform in the dressing room. When went inot the court, my nervousness increased. I looked around and everywhere saw hundreds and hundreds of people—and most of them were Chinese.  They had come in a body to root for China’s team and although the games was played here at home, the Filipino fans were decidedly outnumbered.

“The first set found us disconcerted. The Chinese methods was so different from ours—from what were used to. You know, our way is this: there are three rows of players in a volleyball team—the netters, the killers, and the stoppers, in the order of their proximity to the net. When the ball comes across the net, it is slammed back in either of the following ways: if the netter gets ot, he tosses it up and a killer drives it back. If a killer or a stopper gets it, he passes it on to a netter for the toss.

“The Chinese did things differently. The netters did not “prepare “ the ball at a great height so that when it was killed, it came sizzling to us just barely above the net. Moreover, they could pass toss, and kill with remarkable swiftness.

“Naturally, at first, they had an easy time of it.But we soon pulled ourselves together and gave them a stiff fight. Their method of attack, after all. Had one disadvantage—their skills necessarily lacked maximum force. Morebover, we gradually became used to their way, so that in the end, we won the set.

“The second set found us more confident—the Chinese more team active. They revealed unexpected strength, played furiously, and despite all that we could do, and the fact that we were now wise to their ways, romped away with the second set—thus making necessary a third set…which would decide the winner.

“I can never forget that third set. Both contenders showed admirable teamwork, training and never-flagging energy. The sphere was simply murdered and see-sawed from side to side over the net. Killed, stopped, passed, tossed, and counter-killed—now with us, now with the Chinese. All were on their toes, giving the best in them to win the deciding set for his team.

“However, the greater speed and force of our kill could not but show results. My team-mates fought like anything. As for myself, being a high jumper, I had an advantage. They could toss the ball very high, and I would jump and slam it towards the Chinese with ease—well-timed, as strongly as I could, and at just the most telling angle.

“But the Chinese struggled gallantly to the end—and beyond. They gave us, as far as I am concerned at least, the fight of our lives, and indeed, had us in a tight fix at one time. With the set nearing its end, they forged ahead and soon piled up twenty points. Trailing behind, we played desperately and held them nailed to twenty, while we strive to overtake them.

Just as we were about to even the score, they shot a hot one into our territory, one of their low kills, which one of our netters fumbled and set back sailing awkwardly to the stoppers, one of whom had to deviate from our usual way—and tossed the ball. One of the killers had to slap the ball at a most dangerous angle. Everything really depended on that kill. Defeat was staring us in the face. One more point for the Chinese would be disastrous to the Filipinos. Every man in our team was tense. The ball soared. As it descended, one of our killers leaped into the air. Bang!! It went over to knot the score at 20-20.

“So we fought out a decision—with extra points. Both teams fought every inch of the way and never left the other more than two points behind. Several decisions had to be played—the score mounted to about 26 before the game ended—and even then, we won by a very slight margin only. But, that effort to bring the count to 20-20 was the most thrilling in my career as a volleyball player.”

SOURCE:

“My Most Thrilling Game” #2, by Aureo Aquino, Graphic Magazine, 20 November 1929, p. 6

20. DESIDERIA AMPON: The Filipina Tennis Trailblazer (active 1941-1971)

The most celebrated Filipina tennis player known for her long and successful career on the hard court is the multi-titled DESIDERIA “Desi” AMPON of Manila (b. 19 Sep. 1924). She was the daughter of Felix M. Ampon and Josefa R. Hermoso. At her peak, she was crowned the women’s singles  champion at the International Philippines Championships,  a record 11 times.

Desi Ampon truly was destined to be a tennis star; her father was a tennis pro and a coach. Her older brother, Felicisimo Ampon, reigned as the country’s No. 1 male tennis player of all times, who has made triumphant appearances at the Davis Cup, French Open, and in the Asian Games.

She started her career in local competitions at a time when the sport was being played by a handful of Filipinas. Minda Ochoa, one of the earliest female champions, helped popularize the sport but she retired in the late 30s. Even her return to the scene in 1950 failed to spark renewed interest in tennis.

Ampon began making waves in Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA)-sanctioned matches and by 1941, she ranked 5^th behind leader Liberty Solisa. Soon, sports watchers kept their eye on this other petite Ampon as her rise in rankings continued. She continued playing in city playgrounds like the Dapitan court, often practicing against her sister Petronila.

In 1950, she teamed up with Felicisimo to reach the finals of the Philippine tennis mixed doubles, defeating Sumant Misra-Mrs. Checkett, 6-2, 7-5. They finished as runner up to Spaniard Pedro Masip and the Argentinian Mary Weiss.

But Ampon’s full potential was still to be realized, and that came auspiciously in 1955, when she finally won her first National Title in the women’s singles. 1956 was again, another sterling year, winning 3 titles in that year's National Open Tennis Championships: Singles, Women's Doubles (with Lourdes Ang) and Mixed Doubles (with brother Felicisimo Ampon).

In the next 3 years, she would earn 2 more titles, capped by her representation of the Philippines in the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan—the first time that Tennis became an official medal event.

Sixty tennis players from 15 nations contested the medals at the Games with  Japan winning 3 Golds , followed by the Philippines with 2, but with more medal finishes (10 medals vs. Japan’s 4). Desideria Ampon snagged the Silver in the Women’s Singles behind Japan’s Sachiko Kamo, and another Silver, in Women’s Doubles (with Patricia Yngayo), won by the Japanese tandem of Sachiko Kamo and Reiko Miyagi.

With brother Felicisimo Ampon, Desideria grabbed a Bronze medal in the Mixed Doubles, behind another Philippine team, Raymundo Deyro and Patricia Yngayo). In all, she came home with 3 medals—not bad at all for her Asian Games debut.

 As a prelude to the next 1962 Asian Games, she entered the 1961 Malaya Open Lawn Tennis Tournament in Kuala Lumpur. She was pitted against Japan’s national champion. Reiko Miyagi but lost out to place 2^nd. But she came back strong in the Mixed Doubles, teaming up with brother Felicisimo to vanquish Japan’s Miyagi and Hitoshi Hiroshe 6-3, 9-7.

In Jakarta, she continued to achieve milestones by surpassing her previous Asian Games medal output, winning 4 Bronzes:  Women’s Singles (shared with Patricia Yngayo), Women’s Doubles (with Yngayo) , Women’s Team, and Women’s Mixed Doubles (with Miguel Dungo).

In her last Asian Games in Bangkok 1966, she added 2 medals to her collection: Silver, in Women’s Doubles (with Yngayo), and Bronze, Women’s Team. In all, she amassed 9 medals from 3 Asian Games, tying with Indonesian Yayuk Basuki, who achieved that number in 4 editions.

Meanwhile, her run as a Philippine champion continued unabated after 1958, as she captured the 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1971 national tennis crowns, as well—an unprecedented eleven titles in all.

There is very little we know of Desideria Ampon upon her retirement after 3 decades of tennis playing. But what we do remember is the important legacy she left behind, that paved the way for generations of Filipinas to take up the sport, and excel like her—the likes of Marissa Sanchez, Jennifer Saberon, Dyan Castillejo, Francesca La’O, and now, Alex Eala. the highest-ranked Filipino female singles player in WTA Tour history,

SOURCES:

PROGRESS REPORT Magazine, 1955 issue

“Malayan Singles Champion” MIRROR Magazine, 26 Aug. 1961, p. 31

Tennis Forum, https://www.tennisforum.com/threads/biographies-of-female-tennis-players.497314/page-267?post_id=81956633#post-81956633

19.Boxer FRISCO CONCEPCION, The Man Who Beat Pancho Villa

Pancho Villa was our first boxing world champion, and he would remain the only Filipino to hold a world title (achieved in 1923,  flyweight class), until 1960. But not many people know that Villa’s record was marred by one defeat—in the hands of fellow Filipino, FRISCO CONCEPCION (b. 21 Aug. 1901/d. ?), one-time flyweight champion of the Orient.

Born in San Felipe, Zambales to Lorenzo Concepcion and Enana Labrador, Frisco was a 16 year-old farm boy when American businessman Ed Gallaher took him under his wings and trained him in boxing, Before long, Frisco developed a knock-out punch that floored established boxers like Kid Jamito, Joe Suzara (from whom he wrested the Oriental flyweight crown in a 20-round fight)  and Pete Sarmiento, who went on to fight in the U.S.

In April 1921, the 20 year-old Frisco squared off with Pancho Villa in an 8-round contest in Olongapo, Zambales. Villa was then the reigning flyweight champion of Manila. Pancho’s manager, Paquito Villa, was against the fight as he felt there were more worthy contenders for his ward. Pancho Villa went on to fight Frisco without his manager’s knowledge, where he received a trouncing that he would rather forget.

Starting with Round 1, Frisco went for the attack immediately which took Pancho by surprise. The slugging continued in Round 2 , but Frisco’s effective counter-punching caused Pancho to miss his shots. Pancho recovered his bearing in Round 3, as he focused running his blows on Frisco’s body which visibly hurt him. In Round 4, Pancho shifted his assault on Frisco’s face, and managed to duck and avoid Frisco’s counter attacks. Pancho was relentless in Round 5, but Frisco fought back with sure counter-punches that threw his opponent off-balance.

It was the same story for Round 6:  lagging on points, Pancho unleashed blows on Frisco, who neutralized these with more effective counterpunches. The desperate Pancho tried to go for the kill with a knockout punch but his face and body was met with heavy punches from Frisco. The referee stepped in between the fighters to remind them of the last round.

The fighters shook hands and began Round 8 with Pancho attacking with body blows that were returned with head blows by Frisco. Pancho shifted his style to imitate Frisco, but by then it, was too late as the latter pummeled him with rapid jabs and punches to the face. When the bell sounded, it was clear who the winner was—Frisco Concepcion, with a score of 6 rounds to 2.

An eyewitness to that match was Gregorio Torres, a boxing trainer who observed Frisco’s fighting style: “Frisco’s punches were rapid and his deliveries were level. He was a terrific and aggressive counterpuncher. Frisco’s target was always the jaw of his opponent”.

Frisco, however, had to take a week’s rest to recover from the heavy body punches that he received from his opponent. As for Villa, he never fought Frisco again.

After Frisco retired from boxing, he became a photographer. His manager, Gallaher, had operated a portrait studio on the side, which influenced Frisco to make a career shift when his fighting days were over. Frisco Concepcion made photography his lifetime career until his retirement; however, without a doubt, his lifetime achievement will always be the day he conquered a world champion.

SOURCE:

“The Conqueror of Pancho Villa”, by Felix M. Caliwag, Sunday Times Magazine, 19 June 1960, pp. 18-19.

18. Asia’s Fastest Woman of 1958: INOCENCIA SOLIS

She was just 5 feet 2 inches on her bare toes, but on the cinder track, INOCENCIA S, SOLIS stood taller, stronger, faster on her feet. Throughout the postwar years, she was a stand-out track star, specializing in the sprints, relays, and even broad jump. In all her Philippine representations in 3 consecutive Asiads, she came home with medals in all 3 colors. So formidable was she, that her records endured for years,  taking over a decade for emerging athletes to break her sprint clockings.

Born on Holy Innocents Day (28 Dec. 1932) to Victorio Solis and Leonarda Silomenio, Inocencia grew up with a farming family that valued hard work. She was a product of local schools—New Lucena Elementary School and Santa Barbara High School—where she was exposed to athletics, while dreaming of becoming a teacher someday.

At the 1950 National Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association Meet (NISSA), Solis, coached by Apolonio Japitana, came home with 3 Golds in record times in the 100 m., 200 m. dash, and the running broad jump event. The 18 year old teener’s rise to athletic prominence had just begun.

Cebu Institute of Technology, which has a powerhouse roster of nationally-ranked student athletes, took an interest on Solis and offered her a college scholarship. She  accepted and began her Elementary Education course, while she began her athletic training under new coach Fructuosa Soriano.

In the next few years, Solis began stamping her class in elite athletic meets like the PRISAA Meet and the National Open in 1953. She proved her worth when she qualified to be part of the national team for the second Asian Games to be held in the Manila capital, Philippines from May 2-5, 1954.

She served notice of her potential when she became one of only two female Filipina athletes to win a medal for an individual event, scoring a Bronze in the 200 m. dash (26.5 sec., new PH record)) after 2 Japanese (Midori Tanaka and Atsuko Nambu, Gold and Silver respectively). (Incidentally the other Filipina individual Bronze winner was her Cebu schoolmate, Vivencia Subido in Javelin). Solis also earned a Team Bronze with Rogelia Ferrer, Manolita Cinco and Roberta Anore (50.4 secs.)

Solis continued to make news in the local athletics scene with the holding of the National Open Championship in athletics in 1957. There, as a top member of the crack  CIT team, she swept competition away in the sprints, winning Gold in the 100 and 200 m. dashes, with clockings of 12.4 and 27 secs. flat, respectively. Then, she teamed up with Visitacion Badana, Lucrecia Casorla and Francica Sañopal to win the 4x100 m. relay race in a new record of 49.6 seconds---the first time that Filipinas broke the 50 sec. barrier for that event, and of only 2 track events broken in the meet. 

As a tune-up to the Asian Games of 1958, Solis bannered the CIT team at the 1958 National Open Track & Field Championship held at the Rizal track-and-football stadium in Manila. The event was spiced by the presence of international entries like Nationalist China, Clark Air Force Base, the Fifth Air Force, and Tachikawa Air Base. Solis swept the 100 m. and 200 m. sprints, and snagged a Bronze in the 4 x 100 m. relay with teammamtes Visitacion Badana, Lucrecia Casorla , and Francisca Sanopal. 

Fresh from her triumphs at the National Open, Solis went to the 3rd edition of the Asian Games in Tokyo brimming with extra-confidence, and it was there that she shone the brightest.At the finals of the 100 m at the National Stadium, Solis was unheralded, based on her poor showing in the qualifying heats. All eyes were on Sakura Fukuyama and Yuko Kobayashi of Japan, But she stunned the crowd when she hurtled off the blocks and crossed the finish line first—in 12.5 seconds, a new Games Record, relegating the 2 Japanese to 2^nd and 3^rd.

Thus was Solis crowned Asia’s fastest in 1958. As a bonus, the quartet of Solis, Rogelia Ferrer, Irene Penuela and Francisca Sanopal nabbed the Silver in the 4 x100 m. relay. The Philippine Sportswriters Association acclaimed her as 1958 Athlete of the Year.

Solis would return to her last Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 1962. By then, she was 30 years old, and had given way to an emerging track star, the 19 year-old Mona Sulaiman. The veteran Solis teamed up with Aida Molinos, Francisca Sanopal, and Sulaiman to rule the 4 x 100 m. relay—contributing a precious Gold to the Philippines’ medal harvest.

A little over a week after the Games, Solis, representing the Bureau of Public Schools Interscholastic Athletics Association (BPSIAA), established a new Philippine record in running Broad Jump at the National Open Championships on 12 March 1954, with a distance of 5.209 meters (17 ft. 1 1/8 inches)

She was also a dominant force in the tour of Formosa after the Asian Games, where she won 5 sprints and took 2 gold medals in the broad jump, a fitting punctuation to her incredible athletic journey.

Solis pursued a teaching and coaching career in Cebu in the late 50s, then moved to Manila in the 60s to work with the city government of Caloocan. She helped coach the women's athletic team to the 1970 Asiad in Bangkok. Nothing much was known about Inocencia Solis after that, but in 1998, her names surfaced when she was awarded by Pres. Fidel V. Ramos  the 1998 Distinguished Filipino Woman Achiever in Sports Philippine Centennial Celebration.

On 4 November 2001, Solis passed away at the Iloilo Mission Hospital due to diabetes complications. She was 69 years old. In 2016, she was accorded the ultimate honor of being inducted to the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

SOURCES:

1955 PROGRESS Magazine Supplement

Athletics at the 1954 Asian Games, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1954_Asian_Games

Athletics at the 1958 Asian Games, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1958_Asian_Games

“Solis, former Asiad sprint queen, dies”, by Nerio C. Lujan, The Philippine Star, https://www.philstar.com/sports/2001/12/13/143437/solis-former-asiad-sprint-queen-dies

17. JOHNNY CIPRIANO AND BEN NAÑASCA: THE 1st FILIPINO WINTER OLYMPIANS

The mere idea of a warm weather nation like the Philippines sending a representative to the Winter Olympics seems unthinkable—no, make that impossible. But in 1972, the tropical country sent not one, but two Filipino skiers to compete in the Sapporo Games in Japan, a first for a snow-less, Southeast Asian country.

The distinction of being the first Filipino athletes to compete in Olympic winter sports belong to two teens and cousins JUAN “Johnny” CIPRIANO (b. 18 May 1952)  and JOSELITO BIEVENIDO “Ben” NAÑASCA (b. 29 Aug. 1954)  originally from a large family in Paco, Manila.

To alleviate their condition, their mothers agreed to an offer by a New Zealand family to adopt them in 1963. The boys tagged along with the couple who ended up living for a time in Europe, beginning in Andorra, where they learned to ski in the Pyrenees. 

They continued to ski even as they led peripatetic lives in Spain, France and Switzerland. By then, their skiing skills caught the attention of the Swiss government, which had started a program to promote their alpine skiing sports. Swiss officials saw their potential and offered to pay for their further training. It was suggested that the boys could qualify for the Olympics, representing the Philippines.

After 5 short years, that’s what the 2 boys actually accomplished—they got good enough to earn slots for the Philippines in the 1972 Winter Olympics. The country was thrilled at their representation that huge billboards of them were put up during their short visit en route to Japan, surprising even the two. They created quite a sensation in the international media when the pair arrived in Sapporo.The New Zealand Herald noted that, “to be a Filipino skier is something rare in a country which keenly follows basketball and boxing.”

The Sapporo Games opened on 3 Feb. 1972. 17 year old Nañasca and 19-going-20  Cipriano strode into the snow-covered auditorium behind an unlikely flag bearer, actor Luis Gonzales, who, at that time, was shooting a Nora Aunor-Tirso Cruz II film set in Japan. Since there was no other delegate and no Philippine winter sports association, Gonzales was asked to carry the flag’s colors.

The young Filipinos were entered in the alpine events (downhill, slalom and giant slalom). Nañasca placed 42^nd among 48 finishers in the giant slalom, timing in after 2 runs in 4:06.20. The top 3 medals were won by European standouts, the gold going to world champion Gustavo Thoeni. However, he did not finish in the slalom event.  

Cipriano, still nursing a broken kneecap sustained in an accident in St. Moritz shortly before the Olympiad, saw action in the alpine events (slalom, giant slalom) but did not finish. Though their Olympic campaign was not productive, they made news worldwide, and continued to pursue their skiing passion.

After the Olympics, Nañasca had a brief homecoming to the Philippines before returning to New Zealand. The two were the toast of the country, and the movie “Winter Holiday”--where they appeared in cameo roles was released, boosting their sudden national fame.

They made news again just a few months after the Olympics, when they joined the Ruapehu Regional Championships where Nañasca ruled the giant slalom, besting a formidable field of European and Japanese skiers. Johnny Cipriano, on the other hand, finished second in the event.

They would go on to rock the skiing circle “down under”, by competing in eight races in Australia, consistently placing in the first 25 places. After funding problems put an end to their Philippine representation, Nañasca joined the New Zealand ski team when he became a citizen.

He hanged up his ski boots to begin training as a teacher. After a year of teaching, he found a job opening at Youthtown, a non-profit Kiwi organization founded in 1932, that helps support and develop young people through outdoor sports and activities. He joined Youthtown in 1985 where he organized outdoor camps and designed events and sports programs. He has been connected with Youthtown as an Outdoor Instructor for over 40 years, inspiring young people to be the best they can be.

Nañasca is a father of  two talented athletes of the artistic kind. His 2 daughters with his Dumaguete-born wife Florence-- Karen and Alana—are accomplished ballet dancers.  Karen is a member of the Melbourne-based Australian Ballet Company. On the other hand, his cousin Johnny Cipriano has shunned the limelight, and has pretty much disappeared from the sport scene.

The two Olympians who pre-dated the “Cool Runnings” bobsled team of Jamaica by 16 years, are largely unknown today in the Philippines. But their historic participation in the Winter Olympics blazed the trail for others to follow—like luger Raymond Ocampo, figure skater Michael Martinez, alpine skier Asa Miller-- who dared to engage in a sport most unexpected for Filipinos, performing it to the level of Olympic excellence for all the world to see. #philippineathletes  #philippinealpine sports #philippineolympians #1972sapporowinterolympics #philippinesportsallstars

SOURCES:

The Filipino Athlete., Summing Up the 1972 Munich Olympics,

Healy, Catherine (16 August 2012). "Olympian part of Youthtown history". Fairfax New Zealand Limited. Retrieved 3 October 2017.

 LAD84 Digital Collection, Official Report of the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, publihsed 1973

Former Olympic skier on 40 years helping Kiwi youth thrive, 26 May 2023, https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/05/26/former-olympic-skier-on-40-years-helping-kiwi-youth-thrive/

16. By Leaps and Bounds: SIMEON G. TORIBIO, The 1932 L.A. Olympics Bronze Medalist

The King of Jumps, SIMEON G. TORIBIO was born on 3 Sept. 1905 in Bohol, the son of Luis Toribio and Epifania Galvez, who both originally were from Zamboanga. In his prime, he was hailed as “Asia’s Greatest Athlete”, dominating his events as the Far Eastern Games, winning a record Gold medals in 3 outings (1927,1930, 1934) of the international meet.

The highlight of his glorious athletic career was representing the country in 3 consecutive Olympiads –in the 1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles and 1936 Berlin Olympics, reaching the Finals in all three, and bagging the High Jump Bronze in 1932. This was one of only 2 Bronzes won by a Filipino athlete in athletics (Miguel White claimed a Bronze in the 400 m. hurdles in 1936).

To think that as a child, Toribio was susceptible to all sorts of maladies like tuberculosis.Thin as a stick, he was advised by his school doctor to take up sports to improve his physical condition, so he learned swimming and joined his first athletic competitions as a youngster in Zamboanga.

When the Toribios relocated to Bohol, Toribio got into athletics only because he wanted to be exempted from mundane school duties at the Bohol Provincial High School, like weeding and cutting grass. He made it to the high school team, specializing in High Jump. He practiced by himself for the event by jumping over banana plants. The teen amazed everyone when he placed first in High Jump at the 1921 East Visayas Meet with a jump of 4 feet 9 inches.

A working student, Toribio became a daily laborer to augment his school expenses. In his sophomore year, however, he dropped out of school to become a barrio teacher in Zamboanga, But he returned to complete his studies and resume athletic training. After high school, Toribio was accepted at the Silliman University in Negros Oriental and enrolled in a science degree.

It was as a Silliman student when he entered his first national meet, the 1925 Philippine National Open Championship Meet where he established a new record. In 1926, he eclipsed the jump of 1925 Far Eastern champion Eliseo Razo, the first Filipino to jump over 6 feet.

To prove that this was no fluke, Toribio qualified for the Philippine team to compete in the 1927 Far Eastern Games in Shanghai. There, he established a meet and Philippine record of 6’3 15/16” (1.93 meters) to win Gold.

In 1928, the Filipino took a leap for glory when he set sail with the Philippine team for the Amsterdam Olympics. As part of the field of 35 jumpers,  the lanky six-footer had to clear the qualifying height of 1.83 meters, to be a finalist. Toribio did so with ease, along with 17 others. For the Finals, the remaining jumpers must clear: 1.70 m., 1.80 m., 184 m,1. 88 m., 1.91 m., 1.94 m., and so on.

American Robert Wade King cleared 1.94 meters, good for the Gold, and the fight for Silver and Bronze was tightly fought by 4 others: Americans Benjamin Hedges and Harold M. Osborn, Frenchman Claude Menard and Filipino Simeon Toribio. All cleared 1.91 meters and could proceed no more. But Hedges and Menard cleared the height in fewer tries; Toribio cleared 1.91 only on his 4^th attempt—which put him in medal-less 4^th place. Nevertheless, it was an amazing showing for Toribio, as he came so near to a podium finish.

After coming home to a hero’s welcome, Toribio was ready to tackle his busy schedule head on. There was still school to finish, and meets to attend to. Most of all, there was  the 1930 Far Eastern Games to train for. In Tokyo, he was the favorite to win, and Toribio did not disappoint—he leaped his lifetime best of 2.00 meters there , way ahead of 2 Japanese jumpers , and struck Gold again.

For that 1930 feat, he was awarded the Helms World Trophy given by the Helms Athletic Foundation starting in 1939, to honor the foremost athlete of each continent dating back to 1896. An additional accolade was the Jiji Shimpo Medal of Honor, given by one of the most influential newspapers of Japan, in recognition of his outstanding athletic achievements. In fact, that year, he earned the monicker, “Asia’s Greatest Athlete”.

That was once again proven at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics when he finally won an Olympic Medal—a Bronze, in one of the most exciting finishes in the history of Olympic field events.  Only 2 Asian countries made it to the finals, Japan with 2 jumpers, and the Philippines, lone entry Simeon Toribio. The United States had 3, Canada had 2, and an entry each for Norway, Italy, Poland,  Switzerland, France and Finland.

Four of the finalists cleared the same top height that reached 1.97 meters—A Canadian, two Americans, and our very own Toribio. Had he jumped his personal best of 2 meters, he would have bagged the Gold instantly. The final placings were determined by a series of  jump-offs, so Toribio had a real chance to make history. 

With the jumps taking more than 4 hours, it was said that he took a bathroom break which disrupted the momentum of his next attempts. Toribio placed 3^rd—behind Canada’s Duncan McNaughton and U.S.A’s Robert Van Osdel.

In between Olympics, he continued his civil engineering course at the University of Southern California on a scholarship, having stayed behind after the L.A. games. While there,  he refined his jumping techniques under Dean Bartlett Cromwell, “maker of champions” and coach of the USC track team.

Upon completion of his studies, he returned to he Philippines in July 1933 and finally got married to his longtime sweetheart Maximiana Escobar, a Leyteña. He was also in time to train for the 1934 Far Eastern Games scheduled in Manila. There was no doubt about his 3^rd Gold, winning his event at just 1.93 m., far below his record.

Nevertheless,  this earned him another crack at an Olympic medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he marched at the stadium on the first day of August, as the Philippines’ standard bearer. That Olympics was significant because it disproved Adolph Hitler’s theories of Aryan superiority with the stunning victories of black American Jesse Owens’ 4 gold medal harvest in athletics.

But over at the high jump event, drama was unfolding. Toribio survived the cut by clearing 1.85 m. He got stuck at that height and finished 12^th of 22 finalists. The Gold went to Cornelius Johnson of the U.S. whom he had beaten in the last Olympics, and the Silver to David Albritton. Both were black Americans. Hitler left the stadium before their award ceremonies, this, after congratulating German and Finn winners of the first two events.

The 1936 Berlin Games would be Toribio’s last Olympics. By then, at age 31, he was ready to retire and get down to the more serious business of earning his keep and raising a family. He became a professor of Engineering at the Mapua Institute of Technology from 1934 until 1941—when the war came. He heeded the country’s call and after the fall of Bataan, he served in Lt. Edwin Ramsey’s 40,000 strong guerrilla force, which was given a responsibility for the East Central Luzon Guerrilla Area (ECLGA).

During the Japanese occupation, Toribio had a close call when Japanese police conducted random raids in homes to search for possible resistance fighters. When the military rounded up the Toribio brothers for questioning, a Japanese soldier recognized a framed award certificate presented by the Japanese emperor from the 1930 Far East Games in Tokyo, and photos of Toribio with Japanese athletes at the 1932 L.A. Olympics.. The Japanese police left the Toribio home without any incident.

After the war, Toribio ventured into politics, and ran successfully in 1946 as Representative of the 2^nd district of Bohol, and served 2 terms until 1953. He became Chairman of the Committee on Public Works and was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Congressional Press Club.

In 1948 and 1952, he went to the U.S. to study public works methods and legislations. He authored many laws on public works, particularly those pertaining to schools, airports roads, and harbors. Toribio also developed a keen interest in agriculture and animal husbandry. As a professional, he was an esteemed member of the Philippine and American Engineering Societies,

Under the Liberal Party, he ran for Senator in 1955, along with Diosdado Macapagal, but was not elected, as the Nacionalistas swept all 8 seats. Nevertheless, this self-made man, described as “humble, gentle, never outspoken, doer of things—continued to “epitomize clean sports, the same way that he stood for clean, fair and honest government.”

Toribio, however, never forgot his athletic past, and was twice a delegate to the International Conference on Sports. He was elected first Vice President of the powerful  P.A.A.F. (Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation)  in 1954, as a recognition for his labors in partly planning and supervising the Rizal Memorial Stadium buildings, not to mention his notable contribution to the country’s prestige as an athlete. Likewise, he was singled out by the Philippine Sportswriters Association as the “Filipino Field Athlete of Half Century”.

Simeon Galvez Toribio, sports legend and Olympic high-jumper, was the first inductee of the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He passed away in his beloved Bohol on 5 June 1969, 3 months shy of his 64^th birthday.

SOURCES:

The Philippine Graphic, Far Eastern Games

1928, 1932, 1936 Official Olympic Reports, LA1984 Digital Collections

“Deportes”(Sports Section), The Tribune, 28 April 1933 issue

“Simeon Toribio Is Arriving Tomorrow”, The Tribune, 16 July, 1933, p. 34

“Best Bet in High Jump”, The Tribune, 16 May 1934, p.8

“Toribio Track Starter Today”, The Tribune, 27 Oct. 1934, p. 11

“Out of 49”, The Tribune, 23 July 1936

1955 Campaign Leaflet, Simeon G. Toribio, “The Only Engineer Candidate for Senator”.