RARE FEAT

Juliana Loberanes of USC competes in high jump competition in the Cebu City Olympics at the Cebu City Sports Center. She went on to win the gold.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON

Estreba wins two golds in separate sporting events of Cebu City Olympics

Marielle Estreba put up an impressive showing in the 2018 Cebu City Olympics, bagging a gold medal in two separate sporting events on Thursday at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).

The 14-year-old eighth grader from Talisay City who studies at the Paref Southcrest Inc., which is under Unit 6, dominated one event in both athletics and swimming competitions.

Estreba had no trouble competing in both events as she is also into triathlon, which includes swimming and running.

The Rider Omega Triathlon junior triathlete clinched her first gold medal in the secondary girls 200-meter butterfly wherein she clocked three minutes and 0.78 seconds relegating University of Cebu’s (UC) Maria Michaela Recilla and Mary Pauline Indaya to silver and bronze finishes, respectively.

In athletics, Estreba debuted with a gold, her second for the day, in the secondary girls 3,000-meter run, which was the last event of the day for the athletics competition.

She crossed the finish line with a time of 0:11:50.51 edging UC’s Jessel Ochia who finished at second with the time of 0:12:34.82, and Nicole Del Rosario of University of San Carlos-Basic Education (USC-BED) who settled for third place after clocking 0:12:50.98.

“I was not expecting too much because I would just pressure myself. Instead, I just gave my best and see the results but thankfully, I managed to win both events,” Estreba told Cebu Daily News.

“It was my first time to win in both events, so I am so happy.”

After coming in first in the 3,000-meter run, Estreba ran straight from the CCSC oval to the Cebu City Aquatic Center located also inside the CCSC for the swimming event’s awarding ceremony.

Just last September, Estreba had topped the girls 14-15 years old triathlon event of the PSC-Batang Pinoy National Championships in Baguio City wherein she competed for the Cebu Province.

Estreba has been competing in the Cebu City Olympics for the past three years since transferring from her school in Talisay City to Paref Southcrest Inc.

However, she’s been competing in the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) Meet since she was in second grade.

The winners in the Cebu City Olympics will go on to represent Cebu City in the Cviraa Meet which will be held in Dumaguete City in February.

“I am originally a swimmer because my coach before mainly focuses on swimming, I was just competing in the triathlon recently,” said Estreba, who revealed that her biggest achievement in Cviraa was winning medals in all of her seven events for 2016 and 2017.

Last year, she bagged three gold medals in swimming along with two silvers and two bronze.

She is also a regular qualifier in the swimming events of Palarong Pambansa, wherein she has a bronze medal to show for after she and her teammates finished third in the 4×100 medley elementary girls of the 2017 Palarong Pambansa held in Antique.

“I am really a swimmer, so maybe my ultimate goal for Cviraa and Palarong Pambansa is to win gold medals in both competitions while in running, it is part of my training for the triathlon, but I am also hopeful that I will improve in this sport,” Estreba added.

For now, her main focus is to win in her remaining events in swimming — 200m backstroke, 100m butterfly, and the 800m freestyle. She is also set to compete in the 1,500m run this Saturday.

According to Francis Ramirez, DepEd Cebu City Sports Coordinator, the Estreba’s feat has actually already been done before.

“It was already done by one of the Chiongbian brothers before but I cannot remember when and what events in swimming and athletics,” said Ramirez, referring to the Chiongbian brothers, Yuan and Justin, who were also triathletes.