Silently watching at the sidelines of the Rhythmic Gymnastics’ event of the 2018 MILO Little Olympics in SM Masinag, Dominga Villadoris claps as a fifth gold medal is placed around her granddaughters’ neck.
She could not hold back the tears at the sight. Finally, the dream tucked in her heart for over 50 years, has been realized not by herself but by her own blood.
“Pangarap ko talaga maging gymnast noong bata ako,” she said during the closing ceremonies of the 31st edition of the MILO Little Olympics NCR-South Luzon leg, which ran from Aug. 24 to 26, with more than 5,000 participants.
“Kahit hindi ko natupad para sa sarili ko ‘yun, ‘yung apo ko naman ang nagpatuloy,” said 60-year-old Dominga of her granddaughter, who received the Most Outstanding Athlete Award for Gymnastics.
Her grandkid, Charmi Desiray Flores of the AC Herrera Elementary School, not only became a gymnast, she excelled in the sport, too.
Big time.
The school’s goal this year was just to improve on the lone gymnastics’ gold medal, which interestingly was courtesy of the shy 11-year-old as she personally also had two silvers and the same number of bronze medals in the MILO games last year to place second in her age group.
There was only one concern, though. She was the only gymnast left to carry the fight for the school this year.
No problem though.
Dang, as she is fondly called by relatives, dominated the Elementary Division of Gymnastics, where she hauled five golds in the ball, clubs, freehand and ribbon categories to likewise cop the individual all-around gold medal in the Little Olympics.
“Nalungkot po ako dahil lahat po ng teammates ko, wala na sa team. Kaya siyempre po, mas naging disiplinado po ako sa training, mas nag-focus dahil ako na lang ang representative ng school namin,” said the Grade 6 student.
“Pinaghusayan ko po talaga ngayon sa bawat category, kasi halos isa, kalahating puntos lang ang lamang sa akin nu’ng mga kalaban last year,” she added. “Pero hindi ko po talaga ine-expect na ganito karaming gold makukuha ko.”
But with regular training sessions everyday after class, which go as much as two whole weeks of non-stop training during competition season, the result did not seem that farfetched in retrospect.
At her young age, she has learned to go through the pain amid light injuries and body aches in training, sharing that she learned how to always be disciplined both in life and in gymnastics.
And in competitions like the MILO Little Olympics, she learned that she can bring life’s lessons into her promising young career as a gymnast.
But the most important mindset she learned which she holds dear from her Lola is: “Huwag na huwag pong bibitaw sa pangarap. ‘Yun po ang pinakamahalaga.”
It is interesting to note that despite her youth, she is already thinking of the future generation.
“Pangarap ko po mag-compete sa Olympics. Gusto ko rin pong maging trainer sa gymnastics para marami pa po ang mahilig sa sport na ‘to,” said Desiray.
One by one, her Lola’s dreams are coming true. “‹