AGUSAN DEL SUR — All eyes were on secondary boys weightlifter Matthew Diaz of Region 4A (Calabarzon) at the 2026 Palarong Pambansa at the Datu Lipus Makapandong-Governor Democrito Plaza Sports Complex here in Prosperidad town.
For one, Diaz bagged the under 48 kilogram gold medal last year when weightlifting was a demonstration sport and this time, when the sport was included as a regular event, he is competing in the under-52 kg division with his aunt, Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, by his side as his personal coach.
Diaz settled for silver medal after a thrilling match against Rodelyn Cruz of Zamboanga, the home town of the Diaz weightlifting family.
The two were neck-and-neck throughout the competition, with Cruz ultimately claiming the gold with a total lift of 207 kg (93 kg in the snatch and 114 kg in clean and jerk) as Diaz fell short at 202 kg (92 kg in the snatch and 110 kg in clean and jerk).
Hidilyn’s nephew opened the clean and jerk portion by easily clearing 110 kgs, a weight Cruz matched on his second attempt.
However, the intensity mounted when the weight was raised to 113 kgs, and Diaz struggled to complete the lift.
Seizing the moment, Cruz mustered his strength on his final attempt to lift 114 kgs and bag the gold medal.
For his final lift, Diaz attempted 116 kgs which would have given him the gold but faltered.
Visibly crestfallen, Diaz dropped to his knees as he settled for runner-up honors.
“I know that they expected a lot, but it all depends on what will happen in the competition. We just really don’t know what will happen. It’s really sad, because I really trained so hard, and I am giving my all every training, but if it’s not for you, it’s not for you. It’s just really sad,” the 15-year-old Diaz told The Manila Times in Filipino while holding back the tears.
“I am happy because he won. We can’t do anything about it now. This is what God gave me.” He vowed to bounce back stronger next year.
“I will try my best [to come back stronger]. I will do everything that I can; this is for my dream. I want to be a member of the national team and an Olympian,” he said.
In the girls’ division, Rizal’s Stephanie Mandigma, another member of the Hidilyn Diaz Weightlifting Academy, copped the gold medal in the under-40 kg category after lifting a total weight of 121 kgs (55kg in snatch and 66kg in clean and jerk).
She completely dominated her division as silver medal winner Darine Krist Gaña of Region 9 lifted a total of 113 kg (53 kg in snatch and 60 kg in clean and jerk), and bronze medalist Chloe Taylor of the National Capital Region (NCR) lifted a total of 108 kg (48 kg in snatch and 58 kg in clean and jerk).
“I am inspired by Ms. Hidilyn, and I want to be just like her; that’s why I really want to earn the gold medal and continue weightlifting,” Mandigma said.
Swimming records
Five Palarong Pambansa swimming records were shattered as Patricia Mae Santor, Charles Nathan Boneo, Anton Paulo Della, Riannah Coleman, and Meadow Francis Harrison won gold medals Wednesday afternoon.
Santor of NCR clocked 28.98 seconds for the gold medal in the 50-meter (m) butterfly event, surpassing the 2019 record of Camille Lauren Buico of Davao City, who clocked 29.06 seconds. Nuche Ibit of Region 6 (29.50) and Riannah Coleman of the National Academy of Sports (29.57), took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Boneo of Region 4A topped the boys’ 50-m butterfly event at 27.77 seconds, beating Ronald Guiriba’s record of 28.3 seconds.
Jacob Pestaño of Region 8 won the silver with a clocking of 29.80 seconds while Brennant Hilaro of Region 6 took home the bronze after finishing the distance in 29.92 seconds.
Della of Region 1 dominated the 200-m individual secondary boys’ event, beating Peter Cyrus Dean’s record of 2:12.14, after posting 2:09.97.
Ashton Clyde Jose of NCR (2:10.81) and Kristian Yugo Cabana of Region 4A (2:13.87) placed silver and bronze, respectively.
Coleman finished with a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke event with a time of 33.25 seconds, eclipsing her own record of 34.24 seconds that she set last year.
Kassandra Jamandre of Region 6 (34. 39) and Krytsal Ava David of NCR (34.60) clinched the silver and bronze finishes, respectively.
Harrison of Region 3 clocked in 35.80 seconds in the 50-m breaststroke elementary level, beating the time of David (36.51).
Riley Alindogan of Region 5 settled for silver (36.09), and Kendall Velez of NCR took the last spot on the podium (37.43).
Sprint king and queen
In athletics, Marc Eddie Marcos of Region 4B was hailed as the 2026 Palalo Sprint King after crossing the finishing line at 10.98 seconds in the secondary boys’ 100-m event.
Devriel Labored of Region 6 and Renz Solomon of Negros Island Region went neck and neck for second place as the former registered the time of 11.07.63 seconds, beating the latter by a mere 0.04 second for the silver Sprint Queen Franceine Jhobie Rosario of NCR finished in 12.01 seconds for the gold medal, while her teammate Ma. Lhynette Libranda clocked in 12.16 seconds for the silver.
Dale Jayne Tagalog of Region 10 bagged the bronze with a time of 12.54 seconds.
As of Thursday afternoon, the NCR team led the medal tally with 27 golds, 16 silvers and 22 bronzes.
Region 4A (Calabarzon) is second with a 21-17-11 tally and Region 7 (Central Visayas) is third with a 13-12-13 medal haul.
