62. Hurdler Supreme of the 1950s: FRANCISCA SAÑOPAL

The best and most successful Filipina hurdler of the 50s decade , was without a doubt, the Ilongga all-around athlete FRANCISCA SAÑOPAL. Born on 1 Jan, 1931 in the small barrio of Montinola, in San Joaquin town, Francisca, as a teen, was drawn to the different disciplines of Athletics, competing in throwing events, the sprints and relays, and the short hurdles.

These achievements would pave the way for her trailblazing international stints, competing in 2 editions of the Asian Games and the Olympics. She was a product of the Cebu Institute of Technology, that was renowned for its excellent women’s sports programs, producing a pool of runners, jumpers and throwers of world-class calibre, Some of its outstanding athletes include Asia’s fastest, Inocencia Solis, top broad jumper Visitacion Badana, and the young discus thrower, Josephine dela Viña.

She made her presence felt as a sprinter in the National Intercollegiate, Intersecondary, and Women’s Track & Field beginning in 1954, when she won the 100 meter dash. The next year, Sañopal took the limelight from national record holder Manolita Cinco of the University of Southern Philippines, when she broke her record by 0.2 seconds  at the 1955 National Open Track & Field Meet. The two would become dominant names in women’s hurdles for the next few years—and also the fiercest rivals.

Francisca Among the First Filipina Olympians

This led to her selection by the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation to the 1956 Philippine Olympic Team—a historic and unprecedented one as it marked the first time that Filipinas will compete in the world’s premiere and biggest sporting competition. Also chosen to go to Melbourne for the Summer Olympics were her worthy competitor, Manolita Cinco and two swimmers, Jocelyn von Giese, and 13 year old Gertrudes Lozada, who turned out to be the youngest athlete of the games.

Coached by Jose Ravello, Sañopal and Cinco were actually entered in the 100 m. dash and the 80 m. low hurdles, but it was decided that they had better chances at the hurdles so they did not go thru with the sprint heats. There were only 22 athletes from 11 country participants, with the Philippines as the lone Asian entry.

 In the qualifying heat for the hurdles, Sañopal ran in Heat #4—the last heat that only had 5 participants. It was won by Australian Norma Claire Thrower (10.8 secs.), followed by the Russian Galina Bystrova (10.9 secs.), the French Marthe Lambert, (10.9 secs.), the German Maria Sander (11.1 secs). Sañopal was 5^th and last with a time of 11. 8 secs. Cinco fared no better, timing in at 12.1 secs. in placing 7^th and last in Heat#3. The Australian legend, Shirley Strickland won the 80 m. hurdle with a new Olympic record of 10.7 sec. trailed by Gisela Kohler of Germany (10.9 secs.) Thrower, who topped Sañopal’s heat, placed 3^rd in 11 secs. flat.

 Overall, Sañopal ranked 17^th from among the 22 athletes, while Cinco was second to the last. The Melbourne Olympics were a good experience for the 2 hurdlers, and upon returning home, the inspired Sañopal lost no time in training for the next important races schedules for 1957.

Hurdling for Honor, Among Others

It was at the 1957 National Intercollegiate, Intersecondary and Women’s Track and Field Championship that Sañopal would serve notice of her significant improvement and unparalleled athletic versatility. Held from 23-24 February 1957 at the Rizal Track-Football Stadium, Sañopal was entered by her school in 2 track races (the 80 m. hurdles, and the 100 m. dash)  and 2 throwing events (javelin throw and the shot put). She reached all the finals of those events, garnering various degrees of success.

As expected, she ruled the 80. m. low hurdles, winning the Gold in 12.4 secs, followed by schoolmate, Lilia Heramis in 12.5.  Manolita Cinco of USP settled for 3^rd, also with  12.5 seconds.

In the century dash, Sañopal placed second to the seasoned Inocencia Solis, clocking in at 13.3 secs., just 0.1 behind Solis. Up and coming sprinter Rogelia Ferrer of Manila Central University  was 3^rd in 13.4 seconds.

She then moved to the field events, where she threw the Javelin to a distance of 112’ 7 3/8” to claim Gold, with  Presentacion Juele of MCU a distant second with her 108’ 11 ¼” effort. Sañopal relegated the 1954 Asian Games bronze medalist Vivencia Sabido of CIT, who managed only 108’5”.

But she was not done yet—in her last event, she put the shot at a distance of  28’6” , good for 4^th place behind USP’s  Gloria Villanueva ( 33’ 6 1/8”), CIT’s Perla Pimentel

( 31’9”) and the comebacking Vivencia Sabido (29’ 1/8”).

 Most Outstanding Athlete of 1957

In 1957, the 2-day National Track & Field Championships were held in the first week of March. It proved to be the best season for Sañopal as she outclassed competition, capturing 3 Golds: first, for her pet event, the 80 m. hurdles, timing in at 12 secs. flat, pushing Cinco to 3^rd. Her 2^nd Gold was in the Javelin which she heaved at distance of 127 ft. 8 5/8 in., a full 9 inches farther than Corazon Barredo of the Bureau of Education.

Her 3^rd and last Gold was the women’s 4 x100 m. relay, where she and teammates  Lucrecia Casorla. Inocencia Solis, Visitacion Badana smashed the 50 sec. barrier, setting a new record of 49.6 secs. This was one of only 2 records set in the meet, so it was a very special win for the Cebu Tech amazons.

As a bonus, the sturdy Sañopal added a Bronze (13.3. secs.) to her medal harvest after placing 3^rd to Inocencia Solis (12.4 secs.) and Rogelia Ferrer (12.9 secs.)  in the 100 m. dash. For these extraordinary feats, Francisca Sañopal was singled out and acclaimed as the Most Outstanding Athlete of the National Open meet, and was honored with a trophy by P.A.A.F. meet officials.

Milestone Triumphs at the Asian Games

Though exalted as the most exemplary athlete in the country for 1957,  there was still that yearning for Sañopal to see how far she could push herself, by testing her limits against the best in the world. The Olympics had given her that glimpse, but she was still so inexperienced then, she needed more exposure to more intensive competition. In 1958, another opportunity opened, with the staging of the third Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan. 

At 27,  Sañopal was at the peak of her strength and power. She was entered in her favorite event, the 80 m. hurdles—along with Manolita Cinco-- as well as the relay races. The Philippine women’s team made an auspicious start when Visitacion Badana won the Long Jump Gold in the first day of the athletic competition.

Seven finalists entered the stadium for the finals of the 80 meter low hurdles that fateful day to get into their positions At the sound of the gun, 2 Filipinas ran the best race of their lives as they left their starting blocks to clear the hurdles before them en route to honor and glory for their country.

The highly vaunted hefty Japanese Michiko Iwamoto and Francisca Sañopal ran stride-for-stride, clearing the hurdles with precision all the way to the finish, and both crossed the line with identical 11.6 secs. –a new Games Record. The judges however, awarded Iwamoto the Gold medal based on the photo finish. Sañopal got the Silver, though Cinco somehow eased the loss by scooping the Bronze with her 12.1 secs. run.

Sañopal’s final race was the 4 x100 m. women’s relay.  Again, the strong Japanese team were figured to win. The strategy was to put the 2 fastest Filipinas—Inocencia Solis and Rogelia Ferrer---as the lead runners. Youngest member Irene Penuela will then take over and pass on the baton to Francisca Sañopal, known for her strong finishing kick. With the Japanese ahead, the Filipinas maintained their 2^nd place position against the fast-catching Indians, with Sañopal as anchor. Japan won the Gold as expected, while the Filipinas secured the Silver with a new Philippine record of 49.0 secs, bettering their 3rd place finish in the last Asiad. The dethroned Indians came in 3rd place.

Francisca Sañopal would return to the Asian Games and run the same events a second time—but this time, with biggest difference. The event was the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the setting was the National Senayan Stadium where all athletic sports were contested.

In the 80 m hurdles, she had to run against the strong Japanese Olympian, Ikuko Yoda who won the race in 11.6 secs. Only split seconds later, Sañopal and another Japanese, Kiyoko Shimada, crossed the finish line with the same time of 12 secs. This time, Sañopal was awarded the Silver, for a rare back-to-back finish.

The best race of her career was saved for last—the 4 x100 m. relay. This event has been monopolized by the Japanese women for so long, but little did they know that the Philippine quartet had something in their sleeves. The 4 women included 2 tried and tested veterans—Solis and Sañopal—with 2 young, brilliant sprinters: Aida Molinos and the stellar Mona Sulaiman.

The women were strategically arranged from the one with the slowest time, to the fastest, hence: Molinos, Sañopal, Solis and Sulaiman. With excellent running and precise baton passes, the Filipina squad matched the Japanese with every stride resulting in an exciting photo-finish.

When the times were shown on the screen,  the Philippines completed the race in 48.67 secs, a new national record, with the Japanese registering 48.74 secs.—just a mere  .07 secs. away. The Filipinas had won the Gold! The Indons came in 3^rr in 50.71 secs., a cause for celebration for the host country.  

The victory was a fitting punctuation  to Sañopal’s sensational athletic career. After a jubilant welcome for the returning heroes, the self-effacing 31 year old Sañopal faded quietly from the limelight. In 2014, when a rare gathering of former Olympians organized by the Philippine Olympians Association (POA) only her rival Manolita Cinco, was there to share her reminiscences of their glory days.No more was heard about Francisca Sañopal, not even her passing—the day she crossed over her last hurdle to the great beyond—and to immortality--as the most accomplished Filipina hurdler of her time.

SOURCES:

The Filipino Athlete (Official Publication of the P.A.A.F.), 1957 National Intercollegiate, Intersecondary and Women’s Track and Field Championship, Apr. 1957, p. 8

The Filipino Athlete (Official Publication of the P.A.A.F.), 1957 National Track & Field Championships, May 1957, 3, p. 3-7

The Filipino Athlete (Official Publication of the P.A.A.F.), C.I.T. Takes Women’s Title, June 1958, p. 8-13

 Francisca Sañopal Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisca_Sanopal

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

Athletics at the 1962 Asian Games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1962_Asian_Games

Athletics Podium, https://athleticspodium.com/champs/asian-games/1958-asian-games

“Progress in Sports”, Progress, 1955

1956 Official Olympics Program, Melbourne, Australia

40. AMELITA ALANES: PH Olympian, Track Wonder of the 70s

AMELITA ALANES-SABERON earned 2 Asian Games Medals and was a
quarterfinalist in the 200 M. race at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

Dubbed as one of the “Track Wonders” of Southern Tagalog Athletic Association (STAA) in 1970s, AMELITA ALANES, reigned as the country’s premiere sprinter in the 1970s, winning in the Asian Championships, the Asian Games, and becoming a member of the national athletics team that competed at the tragedy-ridden Munich Olympics in 1972.

She was born in La Carlota, Negros Occidental on 28 Feb. 1952, the daughter of farmer parents. She had her start running barefoot in her hometown in 1966, because her parents could not afford the spiked shoes for sprinting. Yet, she often beat bigger opponents, She then progressed to inter-scholastic meets, where she established 3 junior records.

That was how the shoeless, but fleet-footed Alanes was spotted by Gov. Isidro Rodriguez and Southern Tagalog athletic officials. They offered to train her for inclusion in their much vaunted talent pool. The athletes from Southern Tagalog Athletic Association (STAA) were then considered powerhouse at the Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games (BPISAA)—which would later be renamed Palarong Pambansa in 1974.

On many occasions, STAA had captured the major championships of the BPISAA Games, lording over tough competition from Western Visayas and Mindanao. Southern Tagalog’s strengths lie in football, basketball and athletics. Alanes joined the Rizal’s women’s athletic team---and her baptism of fire in big league athletics began immediately.

Armed with just her 3 junior records and regional wins, the 18 year old was among the last to be chosen for the 1970 Asiad line-up.

She would come home with a Silver Medal in the 200 meter dash, the highest honor won in Bangkok, by the country’s track and field delegation. She recalls the moments leading to her magnificent win in the Asiad. She had raced in the 200 m. heats, placing second to the formidable Olympic medalist Chi Cheng of Chinese Taipei, who came in at 23.7 secs., a new Asian record, despite pulled muscles in both legs,

Later, it was announced that the frontrunner Chi Cheng was pulling out of the 200 meter finals due to her injury. At the Supachalasai Stadium, she remembers thinking “May pag-asa na rin kahit konti”, as she set her feet on the starting blocks. As the gun sounded, Alanes burst into action and sped off, hands flailing, and reaching the finish bunched up with other runners.

She was uncertain if she had done enough. But when the electronic scoreboard flashed the results, Alanes saw her name in 2^nd place, clocking 25.2 secs. behind Keiko Yamada of Japan  (25 secs.), with Indonesia’s Carolina Rieuwpassa coming in 3^rd (25.4 secs.). She remembers sobbing on the shoulders of her coach and being swamped by her fellow runners.

The Philippine performance at the Bangkok Games turned out to be one of the poorest for the country, with Ricardo Fortaleza’s lone boxing gold. The track delegation could only contribute 3 Bronzes and 1 Silver—courtesy of Alanes, who saved the day for the Philippines. Moving forward upon her return, Alanes resumed her training with her team mates to prepare for the biggest competition in her life—this time, at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

The 1972 BPISAA Games in Vigan held for a week starting on April 11, served as a tryout to the Olympics scheduled later in the year in August. Once more, the Southern Tagalog Athletic Association came ready, armed with its finest athletes, among them,  the Rizal  women’s athletic team. The quartet of track wonders included Lucila Salao, Aida Mantawel, Rosalinda Yumol, and the Asian Games medalist Amelita Alanes. Alanes, with the best credentials, did not disappoint.

Alanes competed in 3 individual events: 100 m., 200 m. and 400 m. She won them all, earning 3 Golds and cementing her reputation as the country’s top sprinter. Together with Salao, Mantawel and Yumol, they won berths in the Philippine National Team that were sent to Munich in August for the 20th Olympic competitions.

The infamous Munich Summer Games were held from Aug. 26 to Sep. 12.  Alanes was entered in her favorite events: the 100 and 200 meter dash, and the team event, 4 x 100 m. relay with Salao, Mantawel and Yumol. In her century dash heat, she ran alongside the East German amazon, Renate Stecher. Alanes made a quick exit, timing in at inexplicably at slow 12.37 secs. As expected Stecher topped that heat and advanced all the way to the Finals to win the Gold with a world record time of 11.06 seconds.

Alanes fared better in the 200 meters, timing in at 24.98 secs. in 7^th place, which was good enough to put her into the Quarterfinal rounds. She was eliminated in Round 1, clocking in at 25.28, and thus did not  advance to the semifinals. Stecher, again, won the 200 m. finals Gold in convincing fashion, with an amazing 22.1 secs. clocking. Alanes also lucked out in the 4 x100 m. relay race, as the team was disqualified in the 1^st heat.

 When Alanes returned to the Philippines, she set her sights on the inaugural 1973 Asian Athletics Championships in Manila. There, at the Rodriguez Sports Center in Marikina, the track wonder won the Gold with an 11.6 seconds in the 100m. ahead of 2 Japanese Michiko Morita and Sayo Yamato who clocked identical 12 secs. 

In 1978, the now married Amelita Alanes-Saberon competed in her last Asian Games, also in Bangkok, Thailand. The 8^th edition of these games, held from Dec. 14-19, were controversial because they were not sanctioned by the International Amateur Athletics Federation due to the exclusion of Israel by the organizers. The Philippines had a dismal showing in Bangkok, with no gold medal to show. Still, Alanes, who was entered in the 4 x 100 M. Relay along with Lucila Tolentino-Salao, Rosalinda Yumol and Lydia Silva-Netto salvaged the Bronze in 47 seconds flat, behind Thailand (Gold, 46.20 secs.) and Japan (Silver, 46. 78 secs.).

Alanes-Saberon registered her personal best of 11.4 seconds for the 100 meter dash in 1974. It stood as a National Record for 13 long years before Lydia de Vega broke it at the 1987 Southeast Asian Games, with a time of 11.28 secs.  

SOURCES

Olympic database, Amelita Alanes, https://www.olympiandatabase.com/index.php?id=53690&L=1

The Filipino Athlete, The Munich Olympics, Oct. 1972

32. Small Wonder: ROSALINDA YUMOL, All-Distance Running Champion

The tremendous success of the athletes of Southern Tagalog Athletic Association (STAA) in the Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association (BPISAA), owes much to the sports training program initiated by Rizal Gov. Isidro Rodriguez.

Every year, Rizal sports officials  go out on scouting campaigns in provincial and regional meets looking for potential additions to their deep athletic talent pool. One of the most outstanding athletes ever to emerge from this initiative was the discovery of a 12-year old running prodigy,  ROSALINDA F. YUMOL in 1961.

The diminutive Yumol was born of humble beginnings on 25 April 1949 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, one of 10 children of Andres Yumol and Wenifreda Fuertes. The large brood included brothers Andres (+), Albert (+), Fortuno, Arnel,  and sisters Ethelrida, Luzviminda, Erlinda, Esther, Sherlin and Mary May.

She spent her early schooling at the Puerto Princesa Elementary School, where her running talent became apparent when she began representing her school in meets. At age 12, she could beat older and taller girls in sprints and middle distance running. Her track victories caught the attention of Rizal governor Rodriguez, who promised to sponsor her college schooling after her graduation from Palawan National High School in 1967.

Thereafter, she was recruited and became a ward of the province, given a scholarship at the Rizal Memorial Sports Academy, with a focus on Physical Education, while living and training in the same sports complex. She graduated from Rizal College in 1969.

Yumol amazed her coaches for her exceptional speed and endurance; her size did not seem to matter, outrunning girls in races across all distances—sprints (100m./200 m./400 m.) and distance events (800m. and up). She also added the relays to her specialties, teaming up with brilliant runners like Amelita Alanes, Lucila Salao, and Aida Mantawel who towered above her.

At the Bureau of Public Schools-Interscholastic Athletics Association Games (BPISAA) held from 11-17 April 1972 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Yumol became a national sensation when she won the 400 meter and 800 meter distance run. Thought considered for the Olympic women’s track 4 x 100 relay team with Salao, Mantawel and Alanes, it was runner Carmen Torres who was picked instead to complete the quartet. The Philippine team was disqualified in the first heat in Munich.

Eventually, in 1973, Yumol was included in the 4 x 400 m. relay line-up to run in the inaugural Asian Athletics Championships held from 18-23 Nov. at the Rodriguez Sports Center in Marikina, Rizal, Philippines. Before the hometown crowd, the tiny Yumol ran the race of her life, and together with her team mates Mantawel, Alanes and Torres,  bagged the Gold with an exceptional time of 3:48.9 mins, way ahead of the Singapore (3:50. 1) and Taipei (3:57.8) teams.  The same group added a Bronze for the Philippines in the 4x100m relay event with a clocking of 47.7 secs. 

From 1970 to 1980, Yumol enlisted in the Philippine Army and achieved the rank of Technical Sergeant, while running for national track team. She also forayed to Marathon running, becoming the first Filipina to compete in international marathons including Boston, Hawaii, Vancouver, Jakarta, Singapore, Hongkong, Korea, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.

In the mid 1980s, she came to the U.S.  to observe the 1984 Olympic trials and decided to remain here. By the 1990s, she moved to the West Coast where she worked in the medical field for 20 years as a Certified Nursing Assistant at the OB/Gyne Department of St. Mary’s Medical Center-Long Beach. It was about that time, in 1997, that she met David Brandow, who also worked in the medical field, who dabbled in diving on the side. They were married in 1999, and Yumol gained 2 stepchildren, Bryan Brando and Jamie Russell. Her sons from a previous relationship were Joy Ross Santiago, and Seagfred Yumol. Yumol finally became a U.S. citizen in 2006 and held a Filipino-American dual citizenship.

Upon her retirement in 2015, Yumol enjoyed her domestic life and indulged in her passion for gardening, often creating flower arrangements to the cemetery to honor loved ones who have passed away. She was a prayer group member with El Shaddai.

Yumol finally had the time to holiday in Canada, but what she looked forward most was her regular  Philippine visits. In 2018, she and her husband spent New Year’s Day in the Philippines. Sadly, it would be her last. On 25 May 2018, Rosalinda Yumol-Brandow--the tiny runner who was a titan on the tartan track--passed away in Lakewood, California, at age 69.

SOURCES:

Athletics Podium: https://athleticspodium.com/athlete/46591/rosalinda-yumol

Luyben Dilday Mortuary: Rosalinda Yumol-Brando Obituary, https://www.luybendilday.com/obituary/6541720

“The Speed that Thrills”, The Sunday Times Magazine, 7 May 1972

FB Page, Rosalinda Yumol-Brandow

27. Her Race is Run: IRENE PENUELA, Relay Specialist, Silver Medalist, 1958 Tokyo Asiad

Nearly forgotten, the name IRENE PENUELA came to fore when her daughter, Lyn Majaducon sounded a call for financial help for her mother who was battling ovarian cancer. It turns out Irene Penuela was a former national athlete, who, at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, chased sporting glory—and won the Team Silver Medal in the 4 x 100 M. Women’s Relay.Together with her team mates, top sprinter Inocencia Solis, Rogelia Ferrer and Francisca Sanopal, the Philippine team placed 2^nd to the hometown Japanese quartet, a no mean feat in the region’s biggest, and most highly-competitive sporting event.

As is the case with veteran athletes past their prime, Penuela’s story is the same: after bringing pride to the country, they are left in oblivion, neglected and forgotten. Professional athletes in massively popular sports, like basketball and boxing,  have better chances of parlaying their fame to something more lucrative. On the other hand, amateur athletes from less-funded sports like sprinter Penuela, sadly have little or no support.

Which is why, when Penuela’s Asian Games achievement came to people’s attention via that appeal that came with a photo of her running in that historic relay, the memory of that long-ago victory rallied grateful sports groups and personalities to help the now-old and bedridden athlete.

Irene Penuela was born on 6 April 1938, to parents Jesus Penuela and Alicia Esporton originally from Jaro, Iloilo. Small, slim and standing at only 5'2", the young Irene took to running in her elementary school years where she often represented her school in meets. It was in her high school years at Dumangas High School (formerly Iloilo High School), that Penuela took running seriously. Her teachers knew they had a talent in their hands so she was always fielded in regional events, winning sprints at the West Visayas Athletic Association (WVAA)  Meets.

Penuela qualified as a member of the WVAA team that went to the premiere Bureau of Public Schools Interscholastic Athletic Association (BPSIAA) Meet,  a predecessor of today’s Palarong Pambansa organized back in 1948. It was held in Tagbilaran, Bohol, from Feb. 1 to Mar. 1, 1958. The scrawny teen served notice of her presence when she reached the finals of all her events:  3^rd in the 100 m. dash behind the East Visayan Concordia Avenosa, 4^th in both the 200 m. dash and 1^st in the 4 x 100 m. relay, turning the tables on their East Visayan opponents.

Penuela’s podium wins opened wide the doors of the 1958 National Open Track and Field Championships held just a week later, a prelude to the 1958 Tokyo Asiad. Now representing the Bureau of Public Schools (BPS), Penuela was entered in the 200 m. dash. 

Among the finalists was the national record holder Inocencia Solis, 6 years her senior, and Negros Occidental hurdler/sprinter Rogelia Ferrer, a ’54 Asian Games medalist. Unfazed, Penuela took her place in the cinder tracks and bolted from the blocks at the sound of the gun. When Penuela crossed the finish line, she was shocked to learn that she had placed third behind Solis and Ferrer, with a remarkable time of 26.6 secs., just 0.1 sec. from Ferrer, and 0.2 sec. from Solis.

When the composition of the 4 x 100 m. relay women’s team for the 1958 Tokyo Asiad was announced, Penuela was even more aghast when she saw her name included along with Inocencia Solis, Rogelia Ferrer, and Francisca Sanopal. Sports pundits were expecting either Visitacion Badana or Lucrecia Casorla to complete the quartet as they had been in the 4 x 100 relay team with Solis and Sanopal that smashed the 50 sec. barrier in the 1957 National Open with a new Philippine record time of 49.6 seconds.

But starting 1957, Visitacion Badana was peaking as the country’s best women jumper, the only one to break a national record in that years’ National Intercollegiate Track and Field Championship. Officials may have decided to keep her for the event where she excels best (Indeed, she would score the 1^st gold in the Running Broad Jump at the Tokyo Asiad). In the case of Casorla, she was more of a hurdler, but Sanopal and Manolita Cinco were already the dominant performers in that field.

Thus, all thing considered, officials put their bets on Penuela. It’s true that she never placed first in her events, but her runner-up clockings were just a few ticks away from the winners’ times. Who knows, the idea of running in an international event could even fire this promising athlete to go beyond her limits and win! On the 3^rd week of May, Irene Penuela arrived in Tokyo, Japan to run the biggest race of her life at the Third Asian Games.

In the finals of the 4 x 100 m. relay held at the National Stadium on 29 May, 11:30 a.m, the Indian runners returned to defend their title won in Manila 4 years before. The Japanese squad, however, were the crowd favorite to win the race. The Philippine girls were not ruled out either, as Solis had claimed the Gold in the century dash earlier, installing herself as Asia’s fastest woman.

The plan was for barely-rested Solis to be the lead-off runner, and followed by the Rogelia Ferrer. Penuela, the team’s youngest runner was sandwiched between the more experienced Ferrer and Francisca Sanopal, the hurdler-sprinter known for her strong finishing kick. Running second, Ferrer passed the baton to Penuela who ran the 3^rd leg against the formidable Ikuko Yoda, a future 1964 Olympian hurdler. She held her own as well against the fast-catching Indians, remaining  in 2^nd place as she handed the baton to Sanopal.

The Japanese sprinters (Sakura Fukuyama, Yoshie Fujii, Ikuko Yoda, Yuko Kobayashi) retained their slim lead until the finish to win Gold (48.6 secs. a new Games record), with the fighting Filipinas bagging Silver (49.0 secs. flat, a new PH record, Solis, Ferrer, Penuela, Sanopal), thus bettering their 3^rd place position in the last Manila Asiad. The dethroned Indians ( Christine Brown, Violet Peters, Stephie D'Souza,Mary Leela Rao) were pushed into 3^rd place (49.4 secs.).

To Penuela, the Silver around her neck as she stood on the podium, glittered like Gold—for the 4 x100 m. relay was her one and only event, in her first and only international outing; it was, the biggest win of her running career. In Athletics, the Philippine team hauled 11 medals, 3 of which were Gold, 4 Silvers and 4 Bronzes. Of the 3 Golds, two were won by women athletes. The total medal harvest in Athletics put the Philippines in 3rd place behind Japan and Pakistan.

Japan was a good experience for her, for the new culture she was introduced to, for the sportsmanships fostered, and international friendships she forged with athletes from around Asia. 

Penuela returned to the Philippines to resume her life as a student athlete. She finished her Physical Education course at the Central Philippine University, in Iloilo. She continued her medal-winning ways collecting 11 Gold, 9 Silvers, and 9 Bronzes in post-Asiad meets in the Philippines. Her athletic career lasted only for 9 years, a short but fruitful one.

After 1958, she was married in civil ceremonies to Franquilino Majaducon of Jaro. By 1960, the growing Majaducon family would move to General Santos City, in brgy. Apopong, where she would remain for the rest of her life. They would have 6 children:  Erlien (a special child), Franklin, Gilbert, Elleen, Aileen and Arlien.  The 2 youngest daughters also became outstanding athletes in athletics and swimming.

As a new wave of stronger, faster runners emerged led by the Mona Sulaiman, Penuela went into coaching, mentoring pools of athletes for various national competitions and championships. She made history again in 2005 when she became the oldest female marathon finisher of that year’s Milo Marathon, at the age of 67.

In 2022, Penuela was stricken with ovarian cancer, and her grateful adoptive city of Gensan, accorded her not only financial assistance but also recognized her significant achievements that elevated Philippine sports and gave pride and honor to her country.

Two years after, she took a turn for the worse, which prompted her daughter Lyn to make an appeal for help in settling her medical bills. The response from the sports community was overwhelming, but, sadly it came a bit late for the ailing Irene. On 9 July 2024, Irene Penuela died peacefully, surrounded by her loved ones. There is no greater glory than running her final race, a journey to immortality.  

SOURCES:

1958 3^RD Asian Games, Tokyo, Japan Official Report

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

 1958 Asian Games, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Asian_Games

 The Filipino Athlete, Official publication of the Phil. Amateur Athletic Federation (P.A.A.F) 1957-1958 issues.

 “PH Asiad medalist passes away, family asks for burial assistance”, by Randy Caluag, The Manila Standard, 9 July 2024.

 “Former Asian Games Silver Medalist’s Daughter in dire need of financial aid for mother’s burial and funeral service “, posted on Reboot TV Official  FB Page, 12 July 2024.

 Telephone interview with Lyn P. Majaducon, daughter of Irene Penuela, 29 Apr. 2025.