The honor of winning the first Gold Medal for the Philippines in the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan was the country’s top female jumper VISITACIÓN “Vessie” BADANA- RIBAGORDA, whose performance inspired the Philippine team to finish in 2nd place overall, behind powerhouse Japan.
Born on 2 July 1937 to Pacifico and Ceferina Badana in the small barrio of Cogon Pardo, Cebu, Vessie was an athletic young girl who competed in inter-school meets in the province. She continued with these competitions in her teen years, where she got even better, prompting Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) to offer her an athletic scholarship.
At that time in the 50s, CIT trained- female athletes were considered the best in the country, like Asia’s sprint queen Inocencia Solis, Asian games sprint/hurdler medalist Francisca Sanopal, Manolita Cinco and javelin thrower Vivencia Sabido. Initially, Badana was doing sprints and low hurdles, but her CIT coach, Dean Vicente Tigas had other ideas when they noticed her explosive starts, and how long her vertical leaps were, when she ran. Thus, the 5’3”, 106 lb. athlete was trained to do running Broad Jump (now called Long Jump), which she found to her liking.
Her first major athletic break was in 1954, when, at 17, Badana was named to the national team to compete in the Broad Jump event of the 3rd Asian Games in Manila. The top Filipina jumper then was the unstoppable Inocencia Celis, but the best in the region were the Japanese. Sure enough, Yoshie Takahashi secured the Gold (5.68m), followed by teammates Atsuko Nambu (5.64m), and Mikiko Tazaki (5.36m) for a dominant 1-2-3 finish. Solis set a new Philippine record of 5.18 m. (17 ft. 1 and 1/8 in.) but that was good only for fourth place. Badana and promising jumper Salome Banate finished at the tail end of the broad jump competition.
The calibre of competition spurred Badana to do even better in the next year, and sure enough, at the next Intercollegiate Athletic Championship, she placed first in the Broad Jump, breaching the 17 ft, mark with a leap of 17 ft., 1 inch., just 1/8” shy off the national record. That feat was included in the Best Philippine Track and Field Performance for the 1955-1956 Season.
In 1957, Badana made her appearance in 3 major meets. She started the year in Baguio when she joined 4th PRISAA Meet in February. Badana convincingly won the Broad Jump with amazing 17 ft. 4 ¾ ins. Her region, Central Visayas captured the overall championship crown that year.
Later in March, at the 1957 National Track & Field in May, she won the Running Broad Jump at 17 ft. 3/8 inch. To prove how versatile she was, Badana also reached the finals of the High Jump, where she placed 4th with a leap of 4 ft. 9 inches. Her CIT teammate, Lolita Lagrosas won Gold with her 4 feet 11 7/8 inch effort. But it was in that year’s National Intercollegiate/Intersecondary and Women’s Track & Field Championships where she made headlines. She established a new Philippine record of 17 ft. 8 7/8 ins (5.387 m), surpassing Solis’s record that she set in the 1954 Manila Asiad. Solis was a distant 2nd at 16 ft. 4 inches.
Badana’s place in the Philippine Team to the 1958 Asian Games was assured. The Games opened on 24 May and were played until June 1, 1958. Badana set the tempo for the Philippines when she competed for the Long Jump. The defending champion from Japan, Yoshie Takahashi who had won the past Gold with a jump of 5.68 m. was conspicuously absent. Only her Bronze medalist, Mikiko Tazaki, was a repeat delegate from Japan.
Mustering her courage and channeling all her power and energy, Badana jumped her best, and according to Japanese press reports, the Filipina “executed an astounding best broad jump to win the first Gold Medal in Track and Field for the Philippines”. In fact, Badana accomplished her Personal Best and a new Philippine record of 5.64 m. or 18 ft. 6.05 inches) Silver went to Tazaki (5.49 m.), an improvement from her Bronze finish in 1954, and the Bronze to Taipei’s Huang Soon-sang (5.32 m). It was said that the Japanese Sports Press had been “truly charmed” by her “refreshing friendliness.”
The Philippine delegation went agog over the first Gold Medal Badana claimed for the country—and it took a woman to accomplish the feat. Inspired by her win, the Athletic Team---which went gold-less in Manila—won 2 more Golds, 4 Silvers, 4 Bronzes. Of the 49 medals brought home, Athletics contributed 11, thus redeeming their sorry performance in the last games. The Tokyo Asiad has been the most fruitful for the Philippines in terms of the total number of medals garnered.
Badana’s next stop was no less than the 1960
Olympics in Rome. Thirty international female athletes vied for the 12
Long Jump finalist spots. In the trials, Badana was the 16th
athlete to take her 3 jumps---she leaped to 5.38 m. on her 1st
attempt, 5.59 m. on her 2nd attempt, while her 3rd
jump was fouled. When all the scores had been tallied, Badana’s 5.59
m. jump (her 2nd
personal best), put her in 24th position among the 30
preliminary finishers. She failed to advance, thus ending her one and only Olympic
journey.
In her later years, Visitacion Badana married Porferio P. Ribagorda, a fellow athlete of note, who was employed at the Cebu Institute of Technology-University. They had 5 children: Ruth (now Abarquez), Evelyn (Ybas), Brenda (Abarquez) Ann (Bohol) and Gilbert Ribagorda. Vessie also worked there in the school as the University Registrar until her passing on 6 Dec. 1993, at the age of 56.
Badana’s 5.64 m. National Record would endure for over a decade as she paved the way for a new generation of women long jumpers to follow in the sport: Lydia Rosalada Silva-Netto who broke her record with a leap of 5.70 m. ( reset to 5.71 m. in 1970 by her contemporary Lolita Lagrosas), Elma Muros-Posadas, and the spectacular Marestella Torres-Sunang, the current record holder at 6.72 m. achieved at the Kazakhstan Open, Almaty, Kazakhstan on 4 July 2016.
SOURCES:
Special thanks to Ma'am Gwen Bohol, granddaughter of Visitacion Badana-Ribagorda, for furnishing additional information to this article.
Best Philippine Track & Field Performance 1955-56
Season, The Filipino Athlete, 1956
1957 National Track & Field Championship, National
Intercollegiate-Intersecondary & Womn’s Track and Field Championships. The
Filipino Athlete, May 1957 issue, p.7
Central Visayas Wins 4th PRISAA Meet, The
Filipino Athlete, June 1957 issue, p. 7
The 1958 National Intercollegiate Track & Field
Championships, The Filipino Athlete, 1958
Olympiad Long Jump Results: https://www.olympedia.org/results/60024
Asian Games Manila Philippines 1954, https://atfs.org/wp-content/uploads/Asian-Games-1954-Manila.pdf
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