ASIA Paraase of Central Visayas made Palarong Pambansa history as the first athlete to win the gold medal this year on Thursday, July 11, 2024, when she ruled the 3,000-meter run at the Cebu City Sports Center in Cebu City.
Paraase finished the race at 10:27.36, breaking her record of 10:50.3 when she settled for the silver last year in Marikina.
Chrisha Mae Tajarros of Eastern Visayas followed Paarase 12.36 seconds later to take the silver medal, while Mary Jane Pagayon came in third with a 10:52.72 clocking.
In a surprising turn of events, last year's bronze medalist Mariel Malinao of East Visayas did not finish the race due to reasons still unknown as of this writing.
The 17-year-old Paraase, who hails from Lapu-Lapu City, told SunStar Cebu that she was just aiming to make the best time and break her record.
“Nag-aim lang po ako na maka best time and of course po para ma-break ang [previous] record ko,” she said.
Paraase underwent heavy training in preparation for this year’s Palarong Pambansa under the supervision of her coaches, Gemma Genita and Joncel Gulfan.
“She joined different marathons in Ormoc. Those competitions helped her prepare herself for this Palaro,” Gulfan said. (Stephen Enrile, UP Tacloban Intern)