Cebuana makes history in Rome dancefest

CEBU, Philippines - Cebuana dance athlete Rhea Marquez and her partner Jun Julius Obero of Manila caught everyone by surprise after they lifted the Philippines to a historic triumph in the 2015 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Wheelchair DanceSport World Championships held last November 6-9 at the Federal Technical Center-Bocciodromo Via Fiume Bianco in Rome, Italy.

Marquez and Obero stunned the highly fancied Russian duo of Galina Ryzhkova and Viacheslav Osipov in a close contest to be crowned world champions in combi freestyle class 2.

It was the first ever gold medal of the Philippines in the seven-year history of the IPC tilt.  Ryzhkova and Osipov took the silver medal, while their compatriots Svetlana Kukushkina and Maksim Sedakov got the bronze.

“We were shocked when they called us as the World Champions,” said the 22-year-old Marquez in a message posted in the event’s official website www.paralympic.org. “We are speechless. We don’t know what to say.

We are full of emotions right now because we are new partners actually.”

It was no less a sweet redemption of sort for Marquez and Obero, who earlier missed the podium after landing only at fourth place in the combi Latin class 2 dominated by their Russian rivals.

This time, they wowed the adjudicators with their impressive technique, choreography and presentation.

Interestingly, Marquez and Obero teamed up only two weeks before the Rome tiff.

Despite the limited time and meager financial resources, they gamely overcome the odds on the way to come up with a breakthrough win in the annual contest participated in by about 150 athletes from nearly 25 countries across the globe.

“We were having goosebumps standing in front of the crowd,  shouting and cheering for us while the Philippine flag was raised and our national anthem was being played for the first time,” said Marquez in recalling their glorious moment.

“For what we have achieved, we are thankful to God because He never left us. He is with us on our journey towards everything, from the moment we stepped into the dance floor and as we start dancing, we really felt His presence and guidance,” added Marquez.

“We also would like to thank our coach Genice Marquez for exerting all his efforts in making this trip happen, and to Ms. Becky Garcia, the president of the DanceSport Council of the Philippines, for extending support for us .”

Prior to her Rome joust, Rhea and her younger brother Roque Marquez, Jr. waltzed their way to a golden performance in the Cebu Word DanceSport Federation (WDSF) Open and 8th DanceSport sa Sugbu last September 19 at the Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Marquez, who hails from San Isidro, Talisay City, is a product of the barangay-based grassroots development program of the Cebu City Sports Commission under the flagship of Edward Hayco. She gained athletic scholarship at De La Salle University through dancesport, and now a well-deserved worldwide acclaim. —/JMO (FREEMAN)