Track troubles: Why 11 Palaro athletics records got nullified

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The controversial track oval at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC), which was used for the athletics events during the Palarong Pambansa 2024, fell short of the 400-meter World Athletics standard distance.

Unfortunately, it’s the standout student-athletes who got hit hard by the negligence, resulting in the nullification of all records set in track events at 200 meters and farther.

“There are eight lanes and the average discrepancy is 0.88 meters,” Cebu City Sports Commissioner John Pages said during a press conference on Tuesday, July 16, following an investigation of the renovated track oval. 

“This is not a result of the oval not being standard. This is a direct result of the mistake in the lining.”

Lane 1 turned out to be the shortest at 1.5 meters off the standard 400m distance.

Athletics action already started when the discrepancy got discovered, which eventually saw a whopping 11 records getting nullified in four events – the 3000m steeplechase, 2000m walk, 400m hurdles, and 4x400m relay, all involving 19 athletes from five regions.

But Pages said records set in the sub-200-meter events, including the record set by Western Visayas’ Mico Villaran in the 110m hurdles, will be recognized by the Palarong Pambansa, but not by any other athletics body like the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA), said Palarong Pambansa secretary general Francis Cesar Bringas.

Field events like javelin throw, long jump, discus throw, and shot put were unaffected.

Official scoresheets in the Palaro 2024 website showed a total of 13 records were broken in the track events, with only two – records set in the 110m and 100m hurdles – recognized by the tournament.

What happened?

Let’s go back to February 2023, when Cebu City announced its bid to host the Palaro in 2024. 

“The year 1994 was a significant year for Cebu sports. It was the year when the Cebu City Sports Center was completed and when we last hosted the Palaro,” Pages told SunStar Cebu.

“Thirty years later, we hope to bring it back to Cebu with the newly refurbished CCSC.”

The following May, the city government closed the CCSC to make way for renovations ahead of the Palaro and the preceding Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) meet. It had set aside a budget of P65 million and contracted SBD Builders to renovate the facility.

In August 2023, Cebu City’s bid proved to be successful as previous Palarong Pambansa host Marikina City passed the torch to the Queen City of the South. 

In November 2023, Cebu Daily News reported that the renovation’s progress was still at 30 percent. CCSC executive director Jovito Taborada told the news outlet that the center is targeting to finish renovations by February 2024 and would request SBD Builders to fast-track operations.

February passed and May arrived, when a Philippine News Agency report showed the rubberization of the track had yet to commence. Cebu City had to resort to using the track oval of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu as a venue for the CVIRAA athletics events the same month.

On June 25, the newly renovated CCSC was finally inaugurated – less than two weeks before Palaro opened.

Contractor

What other government projects has SBD Builders undertaken?

The contractor recently clinched a solar power project valued at more than P2 million after approval of the Cebu City Council on Wednesday, July 10, according to SunStar Cebu.

Cebu City Councilor Noel Wenceslao had flagged earlier in May the company’s unfinished bridge project in Barangay Pulangbato, Cebu City, priced at P24 million. It was expected to be completed by September 2023.

Before the Palaro opened on July 9, reports on social media captured the track oval showing uneven rubberized surfaces. Pages assured the safety of the athletes and said that these “minor” signs of damage would be fixed before the games.

Turns out the track oval had another serious concern.

Pages detailed the discrepancy in each lane of the track:

• Lane 1 – 1.5 meters short of the 400m standard distance
• Lane 2 – 0.79m
• Lane 3 – 0.79m
• Lane 4 – 0.79m
• Lane 5 – 0.76m
• Lane 6 – 0.75m
• Lane 7 – 0.73m
• Lane 8 – 0.96m

“If we [take the average], that’s 0.88 [meters],” said Pages.

“Unfortunately, the rule, as explained by ma’am Jeanette Obiena (Palaro’s technical consultant), even if you are one centimeter short, even if it’s 399.99, that is still short.” 

“The contractor…is going to be called, and it will have to explain, and from there [the city council] will take the necessary steps,” Pages said on Tuesday.

Acting Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia called out SBD Builders on Monday, July 15, saying that the contractor will not be paid until all track oval issues are resolved. Meanwhile, Acting Cebu City Vice Mayor Dondon Hontiveros on Tuesday said the Cebu City legal office may review contract specifications with the contractor.

Rappler has reached out to SBD Builders for its comment and will update this story once we receive it.

The contractor earlier asserted its competence to Cebu Daily News in a July 12 report.

“SBD Builders is about integrity and standing by our workmanship. We are here to support the city of Cebu with their dedication to having a successful Palarong Pambansa event in our city,” said managing officer Shaun Doherty.

Records now invalid

Despite the nullification of 11 Palaro records, Pages and Bringas assured the players who broke them will still be awarded their gold, silver, or bronze medals.

Some local government units, aside from giving incentives to medalists, also give separate incentives to record breakers. Will the players with nullified records still get to receive the latter reward?

Bringas deferred the decision to the local government units of the players concerned. “It’s not within our right or power to stop them from giving that. But I would recommend that they still do that,” the Department of Education assistant secretary said.

Will the two records to be honored by Palaro officials be certified by the PATAFA, the country’s athletics body, as well? Bringas said they will stay as Palaro records and “not records of PATAFA nor records of any other athletic organizations” in the country or internationally. 

Bringas previously deferred the validity of the records to the PATAFA during a separate press conference on Saturday, July 13. But in the Tuesday press conference, the official clarified that the track and field authority “is not in any way engaged” in this year’s national meet.

“The Palarong Pambansa is governed by its own board, and the PATAFA has no engagement whatsoever in the Palarong Pambansa. It just so happened that we also have…technical officials in athletics who are also members of the PATAFA, including our tournament director,” Bringas explained.

“They are members of the PATAFA but they are engaged in the Palarong Pambansa as a private individual and as part of the Department of Education and not in any way representing PATAFA.” – Rappler.com