EDITORIAL - Coming up short of expectations

Congratulations are in order for the Cebu City Government for the successful hosting of the 64th Palarong Pambansa 30 years since it was last held here. This wasn’t easy to pull off considering the logistics involved and the biggest wildcard of all --the predictably unpredictable weather.

Most of the athletes, coaches, and other delegates have already left, but some are still sticking around enjoying what our islands have to offer visitors. We hope they all leave with good memories of Cebu.

However, there was a, shall we say, blemish on what could still be considered an overall successful event; the faulty track oval at the Cebu City Sports Center.

You might have already heard of this issue by now; the track oval itself isn’t faulty, but the measurements for the runner’s lane. It falls short of the 400-meter standard. In fact, it is only 398.5 meters, according to the Philippine Sports Commission.

For an athlete, nothing is better than beating a personal best. No, actually there is; because they have to be competitive in nature and because that is the name of the game, nothing beats being better than others. Also, nothing beats setting what can be considered a new national record.

But whatever was achieved had to be negated because they ran a track that fell short of what should have been a standard measurement. And while some people did beat a personal best or other athletes, it was not for the whole 400 meters.

We can understand how some of them can feel sorely disappointed or even cheated.

Now we would like to see who is responsible made to answer for coming up short of expectations, both literally and figuratively.

But like we always say, even the most unfortunate events or incidents can become teachable moments; we can always learn from any occasion that happens, whether good or bad.

Let’s just make sure we remember what lesson it was the next time we host a major sporting event.