PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 10 May) – For the fourth straight time, Butuan City emerged as the overall champion in the Caraga Regional Athletic Games mainly held at the world-class Datu Lipus Makapandong Governor DO Plaza Sports Complex.
Butuan City, the regional center of Caraga, harvested 90 gold, 68 silver and 63 bronze medals while host province Agusan del Sur came in close second, bagging 86 gold, 69 silver and 74 bronze medals.
Making it to the third spot is Agusan del Norte with 59 gold, 68 silver and 57 bronze medals. In 2023, the province also placed third in the regional sports competition held in Butuan City and Cabadbaran City on April 24-28.
Last year’s second placer Surigao del Sur slid to the fourth spot with 50 gold, 53 silver and 63 bronze medals, way below last year’s harvest of 73 gold, 64 silver and 64 bronze medals.
Agusan del Sur was fourth placer in last year’s games with 49 gold, 46 silver and 66 bronze medals. This year’s performance almost doubled its harvest of gold medals.
Bayugan, the lone component city of Agusan del Sur, landed in sixth place with 31 gold, 6 silver and 13 bronze medals, just one gold medal shy of Surigao City, which captured 32 gold, 40 silver and 68 bronze medals.
Bayugan City dominated the dance sport competition with 12 gold medals followed by Agusan del Sur with six gold medals and Surigao del Sur with five gold medals. This helped the city improve from its 11th place performance in 2023.
The tight rivalry between Butuan City and Agusan del Sur can be seen in their dominance in archery, swimming, arnis, futsal and taekwondo. Butuan dominated arnis with 23 gold and six silver medals, futsal with 18 gold, 15 silver and 12 bronze medals, and taekwondo with 11 gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals.
Agusan del Sur ruled swimming with 27 gold, 25 silver and 22 bronze medals and archery with 14 gold, four silver and two bronze medals while Butuan City did not win any medal in this event.
Butuan has been the overall champion in the games since 2018. It bagged 114 and 113 gold medals in 2018 and 2019, respectively. But in 2023, its gold medal haul was reduced to 88.
There were no regional competitions in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as in 2022 with the cancellation of the Palarong Pambansa that year. (Chris V. Panganiban/MindaNews)
