By Glaiza Salanio

On Tuesday, July 16, the Palarong Pambansa 2024, organized by the Department of Education, officially concluded with a closing ceremony at the Cebu City Sports Center after the competitions held from July 9 to July 16.

The Ateneo Senior High School sent several athletes to represent the National Capital Region (NCR) and compete in various sports such as swimming, taekwondo, and archery.

Swimmer Ivo Nikolai Enot bagged gold medals for 100-meter Backstroke, and 50-meter Backstroke; silver medals for 4 x 100-meter Medley Relay, 4 x 100-meter Freestyle Relay, 100-meter Freestyle, and 200-meter Backstroke; and a bronze medal for 200-meter  Freestyle.

For the archery events, Lawrence Ckheil Enecio received gold medals for 50-meter Distance and Mixed Team, a silver medal for the 1440 Round, and a bronze medal for the Individual Olympic Round. He was also named the Most Bemedaled Archer of the secondary boys’ division.

Members of the Ateneo Taekwondo Junior Team also won awards for different events. Elizabeth Marie Borres (with Jose Lucas Llarena from the Ateneo Junior High School) took the gold medal in Mixed Pair Poomsae and the bronze medal for Team Poomsae Girls, while Gabriel Josef Samson got a bronze medal for Category 7.

“Winning two medals in the Palarong Pambansa feels surreal, especially knowing that all my hard work and extra effort paid off with a podium finish, especially since this is my first time representing the NCR as a taekwondo delegate, unlike the previous years when I represented Region 6 in the tournament,” Elizabeth Marie Borres from the taekwondo team shared.

According to her, the NCR team followed a rigorous training schedule that required them to train multiple times a day to improve their skills and performance.

“For future tournaments, I’d like to improve on my overall abilities and to further develop various skills and techniques that will help me reach my goals. Additionally, I want to strengthen my mental mindset because maintaining a clear, calm, and steady mind during competitions will help me stay focused and collected when dealing with nerves and pressure,” she added.

The NCR ended this year’s Palarong Pambansa as the overall champion with a collection of 98 gold medals, 66 silver medals, and 74 bronze medals, continuing its 17-win streak.