BORN on November 28, 1934 in the small municipality of Minalabac in Camarines Sur, Filipino sprinter Claro Pellosis was a pillar in the athletic growth of the once dubbed fastest woman in Asia.
Claro Pellosis was a revelation even before in his own athletic career. Pellosis was one of the four tracksters who were the second and last squad to have won the 4×100 meter relay for the Philippines in the Asian Games.
Pellosis, together with fellow renowned runners Rogelio Onofre, Isaac Gomez, and Remigio Vista, made the gold-medal winning relay team in the 1962 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Pellosis being a part of the four-man team surprised everyone as his events were mainly the 200m and 400m events, nevertheless, he proved them his athleticism as he had contributed to the team title.
Aside from the Asian Games, Pellosis also represented the country in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and in the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Backed by his contributions to Philippine sports, Pellosis helped guide two-time Asian gold medalist Lydia de Vega in securing the 1962 Asian Games gold in the women’s 100 meters event held in Seoul, South Korea.
He assisted her father and coach Tatang de Vega until her retirement in 1994.
After retiring, he served as director of track and field meets, earning the respect of fellow executives and sportswriters.
He passed on a Sunday in July of 2019 after suffering from cardiac arrest.
