ASPIRING ASTRONAUT ON CLOUD 9

Just an hour after sunrise, an emotional Chrisia Mae Tajarros of Eastern Visayas was in a flood of tears as she became the first gold-medal winner of the 2025 Palarong Pambansa here at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium (FEMMS) Monday morning, May 26.

- By MAR REY MONTEJO

Wishing to become an astronaut someday, the 13-year-old Tajarros topped the girls' secondary 3,000m event by clocking in 10 minutes and 18.6 seconds eclipsing her previous time of 10:39.72 in Cebu edition to claim her first-ever Palaro gold and avenge her setback last year.

CARAGA's Mary Mae Magbanua (10:48.4) and Ilocos Region's Nathalie Faye Miguel (10:50.4) settled for the silver and bronze medal honors, respectively, in the annual sportsfest backed by Department of Education (DepEd) and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Tajarros, whose parents are fish vendors, revealed that she cried because winning a Palaro gold was the beginning of a grand plan of wearing the country's tricolors in the future. And it was a big start and a great motivation.