A Sportsman's Story

No pain, no glory.

A cliché it may seem, but I bet this was one of the lines he kept on telling himself to keep up with his life back then.

Professor Norberto Madrigal has acquired over 10 injuries; among these a cracked sternum, a dislocated clavicle, a pinched nerve on the neck and finally obtained a bumpy ear, called a “cauliflower ear,” because of too much pressure from being repeatedly hit during his wrestling fights.

This was because he was (and still is) a multi-sport athlete. Carrying the student number 1983-03660, this Iskolar ng Bayan took up Physical Education. Wrestling, judo, powerlifting and archery – these were the sports he was training for and competing in during the time. Amazed as I was as to how he was able to excel in various sports, he said that it was normal for them to do so back in the day.

“Unang nagustuhan ko talaga wrestling,” he said, recounting one of his most unforgettable Olympic wrestling competitions.

He had to lose 22 lbs. of weight in two weeks to be accepted in the flyweight division. He was 136 lbs. then because he had to bulk up for a previous powerlifting competition. Aside from losing weight, he had rigorous training to improve his strength and skill for the competition because of the pressure from his team and coach to win the gold medal for that division.

Overlooking the science of it all, he lost the competition.

Because of the abrupt weight loss in his body, instead of gaining strength physically and mentally, what happened was the other way around. As he ate less food, his brain saw it as fasting, so it automatically converted everything he ate to fat, making him even weaker. Also, his reaction time suffered during this time because his hydration level went low as he lost weight. If only he knew then that reaction time is dependent on hydration level, he wouldn’t have agreed to losing weight in such a short period of time.

The incident made Madrigal learn that “Kahit anong sport may science talaga, hindi lang nila narerealize kaagad.”

Juggling all these together for five years, his innate skill and passion in extreme sports emancipated as he became the national champion in powerlifting, wrestling and archery while the collegiate champion in judo.

Glory came with pain for Madrigal, until there came a time when it was just too much. That was why he decided to stop competing and just pass on what he knows to his students to also give them a chance to experience what he had gone through.

At present, he is a professor at the Department of Sports Science of the College of Human Kinetics, teaching scuba diving, wrestling, judo, powerlifting, archery, birdwatching, team building and mixed martial arts.

KC Benta, a student of Prof. Madrigal’s in scuba diving, said that she appreciated him being patient and encouraging since she didn’t know how to swim when she took the class. Now, thanks to him, she is proud that she does not only know how to swim, she can even dive.

She also added how he loves to joke around with his students in class and at the same time act professional. She admired how he knows where to draw the line between being just a “barkada” and an instructor.

Imitating how professors are assessed through the performance evaluation test, Benta ranked Professor Madrigal to be among the best professors she has ever had.

Despite winning several competitions, being a professor students love and being a member of various sports organizations such as Wrestling Association of the Philippines, UP Mountaineers, Philippine Bird Photography Forum and Fin Swimming Federations, Madrigal saw his greatest accomplishment from something else.

For him, it’s his 12-year-old boy Burt Thomas, who seems to be following his footsteps. At a very young age, he has already competed in fin swimming and has already been training in archery and football. Also, both of them always play wrestling in their home. Madrigal said he could really see his son being an athlete, or hopefully a multi-sport athlete, just like him.

“Mas magiging magaling ‘yun sa akin,” Madrigal, a proud father, mused.