More than 1,000 medals will be up grabs when the 2025 edition of the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association formally kicks off February 23 with Benguet hosting this year’s largest sporting event in the region.
With the province assuring its readiness to host the weeklong sports event, some 1,365 medals will be at stake with 424 in gold and another 424 silvers while 517 bronze medals will be awarded to the top three best athletes in all the 32-sports discipline lined – up.
All eyes will be on the swimming competition with more than 90 golds as the province is set to showcase the newly built Olympic standard Aquatic Center while athletics will at least give away close to 60 gold medals.
Other multi – medal events that will be hotly contested during the event includes archery and combative sports such as arnis, boxing, and taekwondo.
Medal rich competitions also include chess, dance sports, gymnastics, pencak silat, wrestling and wushu.
Baguio City will be a tough nut to crack as it guns for another over-all title.
Last year, the Summer Capital trounced the competition as it took home 238 gold medals, including 111 silvers and 72 bronze medals.
Host Apayao came in second, grabbing 62 golds, 74 silvers, and 107 bronze with Benguet salvaging a third-place finish winning 50 gold medals, 91 silvers, and 89 bronze medals.
Ifugao meanwhile saved 27-37-62 gold-silver-bronze medals while Abra finished fifth after mustering 16-32-48 with Kalinga bringing home 14-31-57 followed by Tabuk City winning 12-18-35.
Mountain Province finished last with 5-27-47 gold-silver-bronze medals.
Benguet last hosted CARAA in 2011 and since then, the province has embarked on significant infrastructure improvements to bolster its candidacy for the 2025 edition.
Cong. Eric Go Yap together with Gov. Melchor Diclas pushed for the province’ hosting, after the improvements at the Benguet Sports Complex that include the rubberized track oval, renovation of the basketball gymnasium and the construction of the Olympic standard Aquatic Center. Roderick Osis
