Milo Little Olympics gets under way today

CAGAYAN DE ORO—Nearly all of the 1,500 athletes competing in the Milo Little Olympics National Finals here have been accounted for, ensuring an exciting battle for overall honors in the multi-event sportsfest that gets going today at the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Center.

Opening ceremonies start at 4:30 p.m., with Gov. Oscar Moreno, Vice Gov. Norris Babiera, Mayor Vicente Emano and Milo officials, led by Pat Goc-Ong, expected to exhort the competitors to go all-out in their quest for excellence.

Action gets going Saturday in athletics, badminton, chess, gymnastics, soccer, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, scrabble, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball at the Pelaez Sports Center and five other venues in the city in both the elementary and high school divisions.

Visayas, represented mostly by athletes from Cebu City, will defend the overall crown.

Only participants in athletics, gymnastics and swimming are vying in individual events while the rest will compete in team events.

Athletes vying in the high school division are aged 13 to 17 while competitors in the elementary division must not be over 12. Results of both divisions will determine the overall winner.

All the competitors here are champions in the battles held earlier in Luzon, the Visayas, Mindanao and the National Capital Region.

“We are very glad to hold the Milo Little Olympics National Finals at the Pelaez Sports Center because we want children to experience topnotch competition in top facilities,” said Goc-Ong.

“We want to give these students a chance to … have a feel of an Olympic setting.”

Supervised by accredited professionals, the competition is one of few sports meets included in the Department of Education calendar.