Achilles Domingo

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte—After settling for silver last year, Chrisia Mae Tajarros made sure history wouldn't repeat itself as she secured the first gold of the 2025 Palarong Pambansa.


Eastern Visayas (Region 8) trackster Tajarros ended her redemption arc on a high note, seizing the first gold medal of the Palarong Pambansa 2025 after ruling over the 3000m secondary girls finals at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium on Monday, May 26.

 The Tanauan National High School eighth grader finished with a time of 10:18.6, erasing the sting of her Cebu City heartbreak story and turning last year’s shoeless silver into a golden finish.

“Minsan po kasi sa training naiiyak rin po ako pero ginagawa ko po 'yun na motivation para makuha 'yung gintong medalya sa Palarong Pambansa," Tajarros said.

Hailing from her hometown of Leyte, Tajarros set the pace from start to finish, building a commanding 30-second lead over the runner-up despite suffering from muscle pain during her Regionals run.

“All my hard work was worth it. I thought I would not make it here because I was dealing with muscle pain during our regionals. I wanted to quit, but coach said it was up to me to find a way,” said the gold medalist.

Meanwhile, Caraga (Region 13) delegate Mary Mae Magbanua clocked a silver-worthy time of 10:48.4, while Ilocos region’s (Region 1)  Nathalei Faye Migue followed closely with 10:50.4 to take the bronze.

As of this writing, Eastern Visayas now leads the medal tally with two golds in its arsenal, followed by Calabarzon’s (Region IV-A)  one gold and one silver, while Northern Mindanao (Region X) holds third place with one gold and one bronze.