Golden glow at the tracks when girls run faster, swifter than boys in Milo Olympics

CEBU, Philippines - There's a lot of theory that explains why men, in most field of endeavors in life, are more powerful than women. Even on the athletic stage, boys naturally run faster, swifter and stronger than girls. But there are those who defy conventional wisdom, such as female athletes outpacing their male rivals.

Experts say that when it comes to running, it’s hormonal and body structure that makes boys race faster than girls. But three Cebuana tracksters defied the norm as they prove that they can be faster than their male counterparts.

Mary Joy Loberanis maybe one of the smallest runners on the field but she proved too great for her size, raking in a total of five gold medals that helped catapult the University of San Carlos-BED to athletics glory in the 18th Milo Little Olympics Visayas Regional Finals recently at the Cebu City Sports Center.

But aside from her size, the 11-year-old Loberanis also showed that gender doesn’t matter as she ruled the elementary girls 1,500m run with the best time of 5:24.38, amazingly faster by 11 seconds than Adan Bryan Almento of Pardo ES, who clocked in only 5:35.63. to snare the gold medal in the boys category.

Loberanis though was not surprised with her feat as she doesn’t believe that boys will always be faster than girls when it comes to running.

“I was happy to win golds, but I didn’t come as a surprise to me that I have a faster time than the boys," said Loberanis. “For me, what matters most is your preparation. I trained hard for the competition and I am just happy that I contributed golds to my school.”

Mary Joy's ever supportive father and coach Arvin Loberanis has an explanation tor her daughter’s impressive performance. “Sometimes it happens that female athletes can be as fast or even faster than the male athletes but in the case of my daughter, she is just so determined to win and makes sure that she always give her 100 percent in every competition she joined in."

Loberanis' teammate Gleizel Faith Pelayre also caught the fancy of athletics officials in dominating the girls 100m hurdles with a time of 19:08, faster than Oliver Anaco of Labangon ES who was the gold medallist in the boys side.

“The girls (from USC-BED team) just showed that nothing is impossible when you work hard into what you are doing  and that reflected on record sheet,” said coach Arvin.

Aside from Loberanis and Pelayre, Doren Romeral of the University of Cebu (UC) also created quite a stir as she recorded a time far better than the gold medallist in the secondary boys 110m hurdles. Romeral snatched the gold with the time of 16:42, 49 seconds ahead of her teammate Joseph Camingao who lorded it over in the boys class.

“I really expected an improved performance, but I did not expect that I will ran faster than Joseph,” said Romeral.

With their stellar showing, Loberanis, Pelayre and Romeral have probably put a question mark to what most people believe that girls can never be faster than boys, but all of them have clearly manisfested that willingness and passion for their chosen sport are the essential keys to achieving success.    

For now, the three girls will look on to what have they accomplished as an extra motivation as they represent Team Bisdaks in the Milo Little Olympics National finals that will again be hosted by the Queen City of the South this October. (FREEMAN)