2026 Palarong Pambansa: No heartbreaks this time as Lhynnette Libranda dethrones three-time 100m hurdles champ

AGUSAN DEL SUR — In the first of the final five events of her Palarong Pambansa campaign, Lhynnette Libranda gave it her all.

The effort paid off with her first gold medal after the NCR representative ruled the secondary girls’ 100-meter hurdles finals on Monday at the Datu Lipus Makapandong Sports Complex in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur.

The Grade 12 student from University of Santo Tomas clocked 14.04 seconds to rule the eight-woman field and secure her breakthrough championship.

By winning, Libranda dethroned three-time defending champion Angel Villagracia of Western Visayas, who settled for bronze with a time of 14.57 seconds while her teammate Angelica Belandres clinched silver with 14.44 finish.

"Maganda naman po kasi pinaghandaan ko rin po ito since last year pa po," Libranda said.

"Hindi pa rin po ako confident [na mananalo ako bago ang tournament], may doubt pa rin po sa sarili ko kasi malakas din po ‘yung kalaban ko."

However, Lhynnette Libranda silenced all those self-doubts and hurdled her way to the gold medal that had eluded her in the past two editions.

Libranda, a UAAP gold medalist and record holder, finished last in the 2024 edition in Cebu before placing second in the previous iteration in Ilocos Norte, where Villagracia emerged victorious.

This time, she promised herself that things would be different from the past two editions, revealing that she improved her hurdle clearance — an area she said hampered her campaign last year.

"Ito ‘yung target ko na makapag-gold ako and 'yung team ko rin na makakuha ng gold."

—JKC, GMA News