47. JOSEPHINE “Big Jo” DE LA VIÑA and Her Still-Unbroken 54-Year-Old Discus Throw Record.

The discus throw record of Josephine De La Viña has stood for 54 years, without a doubt, the most enduring record in Philippine sports history. It is for this reason that “Big Jo” is regarded as the best thrower that the country has ever produced, and at her peak, ranked 13^th best discus thrower in the Olympics. She was born on 20 April 1946, the eldest child of American-Mexican Norman and Carolina de La Viña of New Lucena (now, Sta. Barbara) Cebu.

De La Viña recalls that hers was not an athletic family. Her father used to be a professional bowler, and that was it. For some reason, she became attracted to softball, her first sport, which she played as a student of Labangon Elementary School. But her affair with the Grecian discus began when she enrolled at the Cebu Institute of Technology High School that was renowned for producing the most successful women athletes of the Philippines—the likes of Asia’s track queen Inocencia Solis, hurdler-sprinter Francisca Sañopal, javelin thrower Vivencia Subido, and broad jumper Visitacion Badana. From throwing balls,  Josephine discovered her natural flair in the throwing events of discus, javelin and shot put. She caught the eye of Dean Amancio Alcordo and Vicente Tigas, who put her on a scholarship and began training her right away.

The hefty teen, who would grow to an intimidating height of 6 feet, with a weight of 180 lbs,  earned a Bronze at her first ever international competition–the 1st Asian Track and Field Championship in Tokyo–with a heave of 37.39 meters. At the 1963 National Open Track and Field competitions at the Rizal Stadium. She set the audience gasping with an incredible heave of 41. 987 m (137 ft. 9 inches) in the women’s discus throw.

At age 18, she was named to the National  Olympic team, where she put on a show by improving her throw to 42.27 meters at the Tokyo Games in 1964, good enough for 18^th place. De La Viña got even better when she joined the 1965 National Open Championships in Manila, registering a remarkable 158 feet, 9 inches (48.387 m.), topping the Asian mark of Japanese Chizoko Tanaka (150 feet, 7 inches, or 45.89 m.)

The next year, De La Viña was the proud flag bearer at the 5th Asian Games in Bangkok (1966) . Competing against favored Japanese amazons, “Big Jo” held her own and threw the discus to an Asian record-shattering 47.58 meters (156 ft. 1 ¼ inches)—which was not even her best throw–to give the Philippines its first Gold. She had been averaging 162 feet in practices, which would have been enough to place her among the top 6 in the world Olympics.

The civil engineering student would go on to participate in two more Olympic quests in Mexico (1968), where she would improve her ranking to 15^th  of the world’s best. De La Viña was also entered in the Shot Put event, but did not start, opting to focus on her pet event, the Discus.

She went into deep training in the U.S. in between the Olympic years under coach Bob Lawson, and it was there that Big Jo set a personal best and a new Philippine record that would—to this day—remain unsurpassed.  At the 1971 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships that took place on 10 July at the Memorial Stadium on the campus of Bakersfield College in Bakersfield, California, De La Viña threw the discus to an astounding 54.71 meters (179 feet, 5 inches) defeating USA’s Carol Jean Moseke L. Frost, the 1967 Pan American Games gold medalist, and 1968 Olympian.

No other Filipina thrower has come near to this record; in fact, the second-best throw also belongs to De La Viña at 53.92 meters, achieved during the qualifying rounds of the Munich Olympics. She almost qualified for the finals, landing in 13^th place, but only 12 athletes moved forward to contest the medals.

To date, after 54 years, De La Viña is the only Filipina to reach--and exceed--the 50 meter mark in the Discus Throw event. For perspective, Dorie Cortejo’s silver medal heave of 45.26 m.  at the 1989 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games is over 9 meters behind De La Viña’s best. “Big Jo” passed away on 4 November  2011in Iloilo, leaving behind an unbroken record that is expected to endure for many more years, earning her a special place in the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

SOURCES:

The Philippine Athlete, P.A.A.F. Official Publication, 1966

“Josephine de la Viña”, olympedia, https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/74514

Quintana, Buddy. “A Most Charming Champion”, The Sunday Times Magazine, 1967

“Josephine de la Viña, Aiming for a Medal”, The Sunday Times Magazine, 13 Oct. 1968 (Cover)

44. ANTONIO ALO and his Vaults of Gold, 1919-1925

When the Americans introduced Athletics to Filipinos, they included Field Events (hence, Track and Field) that included throwing (classic discus, shotput, javelin) and jumping events like  broad jump, hop, skip and jump, standing long jump (now the high jump) and the Pole Vault. These are less popular as they don’t elicit the same energy level from the crowds as the sprint races; they take awhile to finish. Yet, a Field Event Gold is worth the same as a Gold won in the more glamorous century dash or hurdles.

In forming their track teams, national coaches scouted schools for students with certain body types  adapted for  jumping, leaping (tall, slim, with springy legs) and throwing (hefty, muscled, stocky, yet nimble). It was in this way that in the 1917 Far East Games in Japan, the coaches discovered 2 boys who had these built and trained them for the Pole Vault, an ancient sport known during the medieval days.

JUSTO LLANES, 20, at 5’7”, was from Bangued, Abra. He was tall and long-limbed,  and even his face was described as “long and oval”. From Cebu, Cebu came 19 year old ANTONIO ALO (b. 10 May 1898), an inch shorter, and described as “round-faced”. The 2 students were named to the National Athletic Team, and set for Japan on 23 April 1917. On board the ship “Panay”. These two young athletes thus became the first known Filipino Pole Vaulters to compete in the internationa; arena, at the 1917 Far Eastern Championships.

It was Llanes, however, who reached the finals, medalling behind Tang Ichung (CHN) who cleared 3.15 m., followed by another Chinese, Kuo Chiaoyen, with 3.07 m. Llanes (PHI) did not even exceed the 3 m. mark, clearing only 2.99 m., but still enough for the Bronze. The dejected Alo, still a teen,  came home without a medal in his first Far East Games campaign.

He would come back with vengeance for the 1919 Far East Games in Manila, and this time, the young adult, now more confident and better-trained,  snatched the Gold, the first of 3 he would capture  in the most prestigious sporting event of Asia. In fact, 3 Filipinos ruled the Pole Vault finals led by Alo with a 3.31 m. leap—a new games record. Faustino Carlos and a certain Puno—both Filipinos finished 2-3, but their jumps went unrecorded

The 3 Filipinos would defend their titles at the 1921 Far East Games—with the beanpole Alo, again, smashing his own record with an incredible vault of 3.51 m. (.20 cm. better) . Carlos repeated his Silver finish, a a new rising vaulter, Carlos Nicolas, claimed the Bronze. In the same games, Alo was deployed to the Shot Put event as well—a throwing event, yet remarkably, he placed third (12. 55 m) , behind PH teammate Moises Lucas (12.72 m.) and Japanese winner Masasuke Nakamura (JPN), 12.83 m.

At the 1923 Far East Games in Japan, Alo suffered a temporary setback,  slipping to 2^nd place with a leap of (3.32 m.), same height as the Filipino third placer, Mala, who di 3.32 with more attempts. The winner, Japanese Yonetaro Nakazawa (JPN) made it to 3.40 m, good for Gold, leaving Alo’s best mark of 3.51 unscathed,        

His 5^th and last appearance in the Far East Games would come in Manila in 1925. And what a way to finish his sterling pole vaulting career. Four proud Filipinos claimed all the podium spots with Alo and the sensational Numeriano Tagavilla sharing the Gold with the same cleared height of 3.415 m. Sharing Silver were Carlos Mejillano and Miguel Sujeco (PHI) who managed  3.35 m.

 In all, Alo’s stash were 3 Golds, 1 Silver for Pole Vault, and 1 Bronze, for the unlikely sport of Shotput, making him the most successful vaulter ever at the regional games, pre-cursor of the Asian Games. Alo receded quietly from the limelight after that, and no more was heard of him.The champion pole vaulter, untouchable in his heyday, blazed trails in heightening the awareness for this sometimes lonely, tedious, and repetitive jumping sport until Ernest John Obiena proved that Filipinos, despite their short stature., could stand tall and compete with the best jumpers in the world.

SOURCES:

Passport Applications - Philippine Islands, Volume 24 (5350-5599)

Far East Championships, http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/fec.htm

“The pre-war star athletes of Cebu (Part I)”, CEBUPEDIA - Clarence Paul Oaminal - The Freeman , 9 Sep. 2016

Athletics at the 1921 Far Eastern Championship Games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1921_Far_Eastern_Championship_Games

4. DR. REGINO R. YLANAN: From a Top Student Athlete to a Pillar of Philippine Sports

In the annals of Philippine sports history, one name stands out for his multifarious roles in advancing and supporting the cause of national sports: DR. REGINO R. YLANAN—a premiere student athlete, a bemedalled international track star, a medical doctor, educator, coach, and venerable sports official and administrator.

His life legacy includes winning the first gold medals for the Philippines at the Far East Games (1913) , heading the University of the Philippines P.E. Dept. (1921), co-founding the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF, 1924) as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the Philippines (NCAA, 1924), and coaching  the first Filipino Olympian David Nepomuceno in Paris (1924). Four years later, in Amsterdam, he was back as physician of the Philippine Olympic team. It was also during his term as PAAF secretary-treasurer that the Rizal Memorial Stadium was completed (1936).

He started carving his name in sports early. Born on 7 Sep. 1889 in Bogo City, Cebu to Sen. Pedro Rodriguez and Francisca Ylanan, Regino developed an early passion for sports in athletics and baseball. In Cebu High School, he was the captain of the baseball team that became a 3-time interscholastic champion (1910, 1912, 1913) that played in the Manila Carnival games.

After high school, he enrolled at the College of Medicine & Surgery (C.M.S.), University of the Philippines where he further honed his athletic skills. His younger brother and fellow athlete Catalino, was also a student there. The brothers became members of both the crack U.P. Varsity Baseball Team and the C.M.S. Baseball Team which became school champions in 1914-1915. The two were also in the varsity and college Basketball Teams. 

On their own, Regino was both a member of the C.M.S. and the U.P. Varsity Track teams in 1916. Catalino was a Varsity Track member the year before, in 1915.

The older Ylanan came into national prominence at the inaugural Far Eastern Championship Games held in Manila in 1913, participated in by 6 countries. The 24 year old athlete parlayed his baseball-throwing skill by winning  Gold in Discus (28.28 meters), Shotput (10.76 meters)  and Pentathlon.

In the 2^nd edition of the games played in Shanghai in 1915, Regino was back, this time with his brother Catalino, as among the 6 representatives of the school. Regino defended his Shotput title with a heave of 10.91 meters for a back-to-back Gold, plus a Bronze in Pentathlon. Catalino won the team Gold for basketball. 

In 1916, Regino resumed playing baseball, captaining the varsity team to win that year’s  P.A.A.F. Baseball Championship. The two brothers would return to the 1917 Far Eastern Games in Tokyo, their last participation in the games. In Japan, Catalino claimed his second basketball gold, while the Philippine  Baseball team, in which Regino was fielded as a catcher, lost the Gold to Japan.

Upon his return, Ylanan finished his medical studies in 1918 and became a surgeon at the Philippine General Hospital. With his heart still in sports, he accepted a government offer to go to the  Springfield College, Massachusetts for a course in physical education, which he finished in 1920. This led to a job at his alma mater as head of the U.P. Physical Education Department.

A highlight of his career in sports administration was representing the Philippines at the 1924 Paris Olympics and to accompany star sprinter David Nepomuceno, the first Filipino Olympic delegate. He would attend two more Olympics, in Amsterdam (1928) and Berlin (1936), to witness the first medals won by Filipinos in swimming and athletics.

In 1927 he was named National Athletic Director and Secretary-Treasurer for the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation, the forerunner of the Philippine Olympic Committee. The last Far East Games was held in Manila in 1934, and from thereon, with 2 looming wars in the horizon (2^nd Sino-Japanese War that began in Manchuria, World War II) , interest in regional sports went into a decline.

But Ylanan carried on, authoring and promoting books on basketball and baseball, as  part of his advocacies. He was on his way to finishing “The History and Development of Physical Education and Sports in the Philippines”, when he was felled by a heart attack on23  August 1963. He was about to turn 74. Wife Carmen Wilson-Ylanan, who was one of the early women basketball players in the country, finished writing his opus that finally saw print in 1965

In 1999, the Sports Association of the Philippines acclaimed Regino Ylanan as a “Sports Leader of the Millennnium”, along with Ambrosio Padilla, Gonzalo Puyat, and Florencio Campomanes.  It was a fitting honor or his life-long service to promote a culture of excellence in sports, not just for physical health but also for nation-building. For many, Dr. Regino R. Ylanan was truly both a pillar and Father of Philippine Sports.

SOURCES:

Regino Ylanan, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regino_Ylanan

CultureEd Philippines, Sagisag Kultura: Regino Ylanan: https://philippineculturaleducation.com.ph/ylanan-regino/

1915, 1916 University of the Philippines Yearbooks

Athletic Handbook for the Philippine Public Schools, Bureau of Education, Manila, 1904. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/acp1028.1913.040/29?rgn=full+text&view=image&q1=Regino+Ylanan

The Games of the VIII Olympiad: Official Report, (part 1, page 89). la84foundation.org. French Olympic Committee

Iñigo, Manolo R. (2001-09-07). Ylanan Legacy a Tough Act to Follow. Philippine Daily Inquirer, pg. A22. Retrieved on 2015-01-12.