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Monday, December 05, 2005
Hero's welcome awaits Dagmil
A HERO'S welcome is being prepared for 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games long jump gold medalist Henry Dagmil when he comes home to South Cotabato next week.
Buoyed over his gold medal and record-breaking feat, South Cotabato officials led by Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes immediately declared the former farm boy from Tampakan town as the province's newest "sports hero."
"We are all very proud of him. He gave a big inspiration for us in these trying times," Fuentes told reporters shortly after Dagmil's winning leap, which was beamed over national television.
The 23-year-old Dagmil completed the country's four gold medal haul in athletics for the day by setting a new SEA Games mark in the in the men's long jump with 7.81 meters.
It topped Malaysian Mohd Zaki Sadri's previous record of 7.79 meters set in the Jakarta SEA Games in 1997.
Dagmil, who was once a mainstay of the South Cotabato's athletics training pool, started his career in athletics when he was picked to represent his class in sprint competitions during intramural when he was in elementary school.
He moved on to formal athletics training and eventually qualified for the Palarong Pambansa. He continued training and joined local and national competitions when he entered high school and eventually earned sports scholarship offers for college.
While a college freshman at the Holy Trinity College here, Dagmil made a mark in national athletics by winning the 1999 Palaro ng Bayan's long jump gold medal with a games record of 7.11 meters.
The following year, Dagmil joined a summer camp program of the Philippine Sports Commission, where he was noticed and offered a scholarship by the Mapua Institute of Technology.
The third year Information Management major at Mapua offered his gold medal win to his province mates, especially the village folks of Barangay Maltana in Tampakan where he hails.
"This is for all of you. I will continue to train and give my all in future competitions to bring more honor for all you there," he said in the vernacular. (Allen V. Estabillo)
(December 5, 2005 issue)
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