track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
athlete and four-time
Far Eastern Championship Games
The Far Eastern Championship Games (also known as the Far Eastern Championships, Far Eastern Games or Far East Games) was an Asian multi-sport event considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games.
History
In 1913, Elwood Brown, president of ...
champion.
While at high school in
Ambos Camarines
Ambos Camarines (, meaning "both"; commonly known as Camarines), officially the Province of Ambos Camarines, was a historical province in the Philippines found on the northern end of the Bicol Peninsula. It now exists as two separate province ...
, Saavedra was trained by a
Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
n sports coach, Clinton "Doc" Fehliman,Thorpe of the Orient ''The Lincoln Star'', p. 28 (1915-10-03). Retrieved on 2015-01-13. who taught for six years in the country during its era of American influence. Although primarily interested in
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
, Fehliman trained Saavedra in a variety
track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
sports as an all-round athlete.Doc Fehliman Dies of Pneumonia ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', pg. 1 (1984-01-18). Retrieved on 2015-01-13.
This training paid off on Saavedra's major international debut at the
1915 Far Eastern Championship Games
The 1915 Far Eastern Championship Games was the second edition of the regional multi-sport event, contested between China, Japan and the Philippines, and was held from 15 to 22 May 1915 in Shanghai, Republic of China. A total of nine sports were ...
held in
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
– the second edition of Asia's first major
multi-sport event
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...
. Saavedra proved to be the star athlete for the Philippines at the competition: he won the
100-yard dash
The 100-yard dash is a track and field sprint event of . It was part of the Commonwealth Games until 1970, and was included in the triathlon of the Olympics in 1904. It is not generally used in international events, replaced by the 100- ...
,
pole vault
Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...
,
high jump
The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...
and the
decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...
. He also took a bronze medal in the
long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...
. This helped lead the Philippines to its second straight athletics championship title.Far East Championships GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-01-13. Fehliman deemed Saavedra the "
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...
of the Orient", given his success across disciplines.
Saavedra returned to represent his country at the 1917 Far Eastern Championship Games in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
. He was less successful at this competition, but still came away with multiple medals in the form of a long jump silver (behind fellow Filipino C. Cardenas) and a bronze in the decathlon. The Philippines team won a third title, helped by Fortunato Catalon's sprint double, although the nation was equal on gold medals with the hosts on this occasion. His last major appearance was the 1919 Manila Games, where he was the long jump bronze medallist.
Saavedra's four titles in Far Eastern competitions ranked him as one of the tournament's most successful track athletes: only Catalon,
Mikio Oda
was a Japanese athlete and the first Japanese Olympic gold medalist. He was the first Asian Olympic champion in an individual event.Regino Ylanan won as many individual golds in the competition's history. Saavedra was the only person to have won Far Eastern Championship Games gold medals in four separate disciplines.