Remembering Fortunato Catalon

Fortunato Catalon (left) shakes hands with Prince Chichibu at the 1923 Tokyo Games.PHOTO FROM EDDIE ALINEA’S FILE

HAD Fortunato Catalon not persevered and allowed school officials at the Leyte High School had their way, the Philippines would not have earned the honor of having the winningest athlete that emerged in the Far Eastern Games (FEG), forerunner of the now Asian Games, the second oldest multi-nation regional sports competitions, next only to the Olympics Games.