DAVAO DEL NORTE—Seven track and field gold medals will be at stake in the Palarong Pambansa this morning but competition will stop for a few hours so delegates can watch the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight live from MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Wide screens were set up around the sprawling Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex as organizers inserted in the Palaro calendar what is generally considered as one of the biggest boxing fights in history.
The opening ceremonies have already been moved for tomorrow, instead of today, to allow about 15,000 athletes competing in 17 sports to witness the mega fight.
Athletics will begin at 5 a.m. with competitions in the secondary boys’ discus throw, secondary boys’ and girls’ long jump, elementary boys’ and girls’ shot put, and elementary boys’ and girls’ triple jump.
But action grinds to a halt at 10 a.m., which is also in keeping with the policy to give the athletes a midday break to prevent heat stroke.
Volleyball matches, however, will be played without a break, like futsal whose opening match pits National Capital Region against Eastern Visayas.
This is the first time Davao del Norte is hosting the Games which is supported by the Tagum Agricultural Development Company (Tadeco), Damosa Land, Davao Packaging Corporation, Davao International Container Terminal, Inc. and Pearl Farm Beach Resort.
Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario promised a “remarkable” staging of the 58th edition of the Games.
“We hope to promote the peace that we are talking about not only inside playing courts but also in the respective regions of each athlete,” he said.