Decades before Philippine sports embraced Lydia de Vega and Elma Muros-Posadas as its track darlings, the country beamed with pride over the exploits of Mona Sulaiman.
She was a champion and an enigma rolled into one, whose talent was unquestionable but was cut short by a question.
Just like in blazing the trail De Vega-Mercado and Muros-Posadas eventually ran, Sulaiman also predated Nancy Navalta, the athletics heroine whose gender came under intense scrutiny in the 1990s.
Sulaiman stormed to the country’s consciousness when she crowned herself the queen of sprints during the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta. She won the 100-meter and 200m dashes, the 4X100m relay aside from taking the bronze in shot put.
Two years before that, she joined the Rome Olympics, making it to the quarterfinals of the century dash. In 1964, she also ran in the Tokyo Olympiad.
And then the questions started. In whispers at first, before it was formally laid before her, just as she was about to compete in the 1966 Asian Games, in the form of a required gender test. Was Sulaiman male or female?
She could have—should have, many felt—fought the doubters and detractors and taken the test. Instead, still in her prime, Sulaiman opted to shy away from the glare of the spotlight and declined. She thus was not allowed to run in Jakarta.
And just like that Sulaiman’s star started to fade. But in refusing to be dragged into an expectedly protracted and innuendo-filled battle for truth, Sulaiman kept her legend intact.
Those who caught up with her in the 1990s, when she worked in the Philippine Sports Commission as a consultant would understand her decision. There, dressed in office attire that, with age, tucked away the once muscled frame, Sulaiman cut a quiet figure. She spoke in soft, sure tones and never drew attention to herself.
And neither did she bother addressing issues that led to her quick retirement.
Sulaiman first became known as the barefoot wonder from Cotabato, dazzling the crowd with her brisk gait and strong burst from the gates.
The public’s first glimpse of a weakened Sulaiman was when the PSC inducted her to its Hall of Fame. She received the honor on wheelchair, her body ravaged by ailments including diabetes.
She had been confined at government-owned East Avenue Medical Center since Dec. 16 before succumbing on the evening of Dec. 21. She was 75.
Her niece Mary Jane Diza-Neri took care of her as she didn’t have a family of her own and her siblings had long died.
The PSC has since pledged to shoulder burial expenses for Sulaiman.
Muros-Posadas and her husband, national coach George Posadas, helped take care of her burial plans. Posadas said Sulaiman’s remains will be at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Jersey Road, Proj. 8, Quezon City. Interment will be announced later.