2026 Palarong Pambansa: Whether gold or bronze, hurdler Angel Villagracia remains gracious with every podium finish

AGUSAN DEL SUR — The past three years were all about winning for Angel Villagracia. This year, it's still about winning—but maybe more—for the 18-year-old hurdler.

Villagracia came into the 2026 Palarong Pambansa with her mind and heart set on winning her fourth straight gold medal in the secondary girls' 110m hurdles event.

However, her body wasn't in sync after she sustained a partial ACL tear on her left knee in April, which prompted her to miss a couple of weeks of training.

Still, the Western Visayas star decided to still see action in her final Palaro stint.

"Kasi nu’ng regionals namin, na-injure po ako nu’ng 200m heats namin kaya hindi ako nakapag-training ng almost two weeks," Villagracia said.

"10 out of 10 talaga ('yung pain) kasi nu’ng sa province pa lang namin, nagte-therapy na ako, nag-stop lang kasi pumunta na kami dito. Ngayon hindi na tinetherapy kaya siguro bumalik ulit."

(During our regionals, I got injured during 200m heats so I wasn’t able to train for almost two weeks. The pain was 10 out of 10. So while I was in our province, I was doing therapy. I stopped because we traveled here. Now that I’m not doing therapy, the pain came back.)

Bronze medal finish

Villagracia failed to repeat her feat from the past three editions, winding up third after clocking 14.57 seconds behind gold medalist Lhynette Libranda (14.04) and silver medalist Angelica Belandres (14.44).

Although she was denied the four-peat title, Villagracia remained gracious about her latest achievement, even though it wasn't gold.

"Sinabi ko na lang na kung para sa akin, ibibigay ni Lord ‘yun. Pero ‘pag hindi, okay lang naman sa akin. Hindi naman sa lahat ng bagay, sa’yo lahat," she added.

"Nasasaktan talaga ako kasi ‘yung expectations ng family ko, ng friends ko, hindi ko rin gusto ma-bash. Grateful pa rin ako kasi nakakuha ako ng ng bronze, ‘yung ibang atleta nga hinahangad lang ‘yun pero ako, binigyan ako ni Lord ng opportunity na magka-medal."

(I’m just telling myself, if it was for me, Lord would grant it. But if not, it’s okay with me. You can’t have everything. I’m just hurt because I won’t meet the expectations of my family and friends. I also don’t want to be bashed. But I’m grateful because I was able to get a bronze. Other athletes only aspire for it, but for me, I was given the opportunity by the Lord to win a medal.)

—JMB, GMA News