Regino R. Ylanan (7 September 1889 – 1963) was a Filipino athlete, physician, sports administrator, physical educator, and sports historian. He rose to fame with three gold medals in

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 ...

at the

1913 Far Eastern Championship Games The 1st Far Eastern Championship Games were held in 1–9 February 1913 in Manila, Philippines. The inaugural tournament was officially opened by Governor General William Cameron Forbes at the Carnival Grounds in Malate, Manila. Six countries par ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. He won two further medals at the 1915 Games and also represented his country in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

at three editions of the tournament. He was a founder of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

in the Philippines in 1924. A doctor of medicine and surgeon by training, in 1930 he became the first Filipino to gain a physical education degree from the United States. At age 30 he was appointed head of physical education at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

– the country's first and most prestigious university. He later served as national sports director and was a long-standing secretary-treasurer for the

Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) was the governing body of sports in the Philippines and the predecessor of the Philippine Olympic Committee. History The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation was organized in a permanent basi ...

(a forerunner to the national Olympic committee). He coached

David Nepomuceno David Ramos Nepomuceno (May 9, 1900 – September 27, 1939) was the first Filipino to compete in the Olympics. He was a runner and the sole representative of the Philippines at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Nepomuceno also ser ...

—the country's first Olympian in 1928—and was the Filipino head of delegation for the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. Ylanan helped develop

sports in the Philippines Sports in the Philippines is an important part of the country's culture.There are seven major sports in the Philippines: basketball, boxing, tennis, football, billiards, armwrestling and volleyball. Administration The governing agency for sp ...

, with a focus on Western sports such as baseball, basketball and track and field. He developed a national sports programme, assisted in the building of the

Rizal Memorial Sports Complex The Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC; formerly known as Rizal Memorial Field) is a national sports complex of the Philippines, located on Pablo Ocampo St. (formerly Vito Cruz St.), Malate, Manila. It is named in honor of the country's national ...

and wrote several works on sport, including a book which was posthumously published.

Early life and education

Regino Ylanan was born in

Bogo, Cebu Bogo , officially the City of Bogo (; ; ), is a component city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 88,867 people. The plebiscite for the cityhood of Bogo was held on June 16, 2007, in wh ...

on September 7, 1889. He attended at Cebu High School and played

for the institution as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He continued to play the sport while studying to be a doctor at the

University of the Philippines College of Medicine The University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine (CM) is the medical school of the University of the Philippines Manila, the oldest constituent university of the University of the Philippines System. Its establishment in 1905 anteda ...

. Reaching his twenties, he enjoyed his first experience of high level sport in 1911 when he was named in the all-Filipino national baseball team as a center fielder. Despite his early baseball success, it was in

that Ylanan made his impact as an athlete. He graduated as a doctor of medicine from University of the Philippines in 1918. He practiced as a surgeon at the

Philippine General Hospital The Philippine General Hospital (also known as University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital or UP–Philippine General Hospital), simply referred to as UP–PGH or PGH, is a tertiary state-owned hospital administered and operated ...

. He attended the

Springfield College Springfield College is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. The institution's mission, called the Humanism, Humanics philosophy, calls for educating students in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in service ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in the United States where he graduated in 1920 with a bachelor's degree in physical education.

Career

Competitive career

Ylanan was selected to represent the Philippines at the inaugural

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 ...

in 1913 in the athletics competition. At the event in

, his throwing abilities from playing baseball translated into success in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

and the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

, events which he won with marks of and , respectively. He won a third

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

gold medal in the

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...

, making him the top performing athlete at the competition and a key figure in securing the athletics title for the Philippines. Still a student, he returned for the 1915 Games held in Shanghai and defended his shot put title with an improved throw of . Although he didn't match the success of his first appearance, he did reach the podium for a second time in the form of a pentathlon bronze medal. The Philippines won the championship title for second time, although it was

Genaro Saavedra Genaro Saavedra (born 1895) was a Filipino track and field athlete and four-time Far Eastern Championship Games champion. While at high school in Ambos Camarines, Saavedra was trained by a Nebraskan sports coach, Clinton "Doc" Fehliman,

that led the charge this time as he took four gold medals in total. Ylanan competed one further time at the competition, playing as catcher for the Filipino baseball team at the 1917 Far Eastern Championship Games.

As coach and support staff

He served as the head coach for the Filipino baseball team at the

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

and 1923 Far Eastern Championship Games;Luna, Eufrosino & Alarde, Hipolito Tiong (1980-01-05)
Dr. Regino R. Ylanan - Bogohanong Namandila sa Kabantug
. Bogo Cebu (archived). Retrieved on 2015-01-12. the team won the title in both years. Western sports were becoming increasingly popular during the period of American influence and the American-educated Ylanan fostered the development of such sports. In 1924 he coached

, a sprinter who, at the

1924 Paris Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

, became the first ever Filipino Olympian as the country sent a two-man delegation comprising Ylanan as the sole official and Nepomuceno as the sole athlete. He was the chief medic for the 1928 Olympic Philippines team and then the head of the national delegation at the

, where

Miguel White Miguel Solano White (October 9, 1909 – August 30, 1942) was a Filipino track and field athlete of Filipino-American descent who competed for the Philippines in the 400 metre hurdles at the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany, winning ...

won the country's second ever Olympic athletics medal in the hurdles.

Sports administration

Ylanan helped create the

in 1924, representing the University of the Philippines among the seven founding colleges in the national sports league. The league went on to be highly influential in the development of sport in the Philippines. Ylanan headed the Filipino delegation for the

1925 Far Eastern Championship Games The 1925 Far Eastern Championship Games was the seventh edition of the regional multi-sport event, contested between China, Japan and the Philippines, and was held from 17 to 22 May in Manila, the Philippines. A total of eight sports were contested ...

in Manila. In 1927 he was promoted to the position of national athletic director and also the position of secretary-treasurer for the

– the country's leading sports organisation. He acted in the latter position for over twenty years. Working alongside

Jorge B. Vargas Jorge Bartolomé Vargas y Celis (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a Filipino lawyer, diplomat and youth advocate born in Bago, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 an ...

, the organisation's president, his achievements during his tenure included a ten-year national plan for athletic centres to train youths and the building of the

on the old

Manila Carnival Manila Carnival was an annual carnival festival held in Manila during the early American colonial period up to the time before the Second World War. It was organized by the American colonial administration to showcase the economic development of ...

grounds as the main stadium for the

1934 Far Eastern Championship Games The 1934 Far Eastern Championship Games was the tenth edition of the regional multi-sport event, contested between China, Japan and the Philippines, and was held from 16 to 20 May in Manila, the Philippines. A total of eight sports were contested ...

, which was the tenth and final edition of the competition. Regional sports competition declined shortly afterwards given the onset of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

in 1937. He remained an authority on sports in the country, in capacities as an administrator, writer and medic. He documented the continued rise of

basketball in the Philippines Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines, played from amateur to professional levels. History American era and the Philippine NCAA Basketball was introduced in the Philippines during the American colonial period with t ...

in the 1940s, as well as the development of baseball in the country on which he remarked that it "seemed to fill a long-felt want with the Filipino".

Death

Ylanan died sometime in 1963 due to a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while in a process of writing a book. His wife Carmen Wilson Ylanan finished the work entitled ''The History and Development of Physical Education and Sports in the Philippines'' and it was published in 1965, which a second edition with further additions by her following in 1974. He was given several awards posthumously, including honours from the Philippine Sports Writers Association and a

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

Triangle Award. In 1999 he was awarded the title of "Sports Leader of the Millenium" by the Philippine Sportswriters Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ylanan, Regino 1889 births 1963 deaths People from Bogo, Cebu Sportspeople from Cebu Filipino sports executives and administrators Filipino sports physicians Filipino sportswriters 20th-century Filipino historians Filipino baseball players Baseball catchers Filipino male discus throwers Filipino male shot putters Filipino pentathletes Athletics (track and field) coaches University of the Philippines alumni Academic staff of the University of the Philippines 20th-century Filipino medical doctors