CRISTINA Onofre of Manila and Ava Verdeflor of Texas stole the thunder in artistic gymnastics yesterday by winning the individual all-around gold medals in the seniors and juniors competitions, respectively, in the Philippine Olympic Committee-Philippine Sports Commission National Games (PNG) at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC).
Onofre, a national team mainstay, scored 38.125 points, while Verdeflor amassed 50.575 in competitions held at the RMSC Gymnastics Hall.
The PNG formally began with the opening ceremony at the RMSC stadium led by POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. and PSC chair Richie Garcia.
The Games, which put together the national open tourneys of all 41 national sports associations, will run until June 2 in different venues around Metro Manila with RMSC and Philsports in Pasig City as main hubs.
Some 10,000 athletes, including the full force of 1,000-strong Team Philippines, are seeing action in the meet, which is aimed at scouring for fresh talents to fill the national pool.
Canoe-kayak competitions also began at Manila Bay prior to the opening rites. Janette Escallona led the gold medal winners by ruling the Touring Kayak women’s 5,000-meters with a time of 30 minutes, 25.14 seconds. Reggie Palatao topped the men side in 29:02.52.
Action also started at Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium, with National University and International Little League-Manila winning their first-day assignments.