Milo Little Olympics up in Cebu

CEBU CITY, Philippines - – The Milo Little Olympics finally gets under way today after delays caused by a powerful earthquake and a super typhoon that battered parts of the Visayas region with the best of the young crop slugging it out for top honors in various fronts at the Cebu City Sports Center here.

A total of 1,600 athletes, who emerged champions from the total participants numbering 22,000 from qualifiers in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and the National Capital Region, will battle it out in nine sports, including centerpiece athletics and medal-rich swimming over nine venues across Cebu.

Track and field, where the first gold medals will be staked in the 5,000-meter and shot-put events, will be held at the main hub at the Cebu City Sports Center along with chess, football, gymnastics, scrabble, swimming and table tennis.

Basketball, on the other hand, will be played at the Cebu Coliseum, while volleyball is set at the SWU’s Aznar Coliseum and University of Southern Phl, and taekwondo at the Cebu Eastern College.

Lawn tennis is slated at the Alta Vista Golf and Contry Club and Baseline Recreation Center while badminton will be played at the Metro Sports.

The Big City bets are out to retain the overall championship they snatched from Team Visayas at the Marikina Sports Complex last year with NCR ending a four-year reign by the hosts.

Aside from the 5,000m and shot-put, other titles up for dispute in athletics are in 100m dash, long jump, 800m, 100m hurdles and 110m hurdles in the morning events and discus throw, high jump, 400m hurdles, 200m and 1,500m in the afternoon hostilities.

In swimming, golds will be disputed in 200m and 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 50m and 200m butterfly, 50m and 200m breaststroke and 4x50m medley relay for boys and girls in the morning competitions and 100m free, 50m and 200m back, 100m fly, 400m and 800m free and 4x100m medley relay for boys and girls in the afternoon events.

The two-day event was officially opened last night with an elaborate opening rites at the New Cebu Coliseum.