Rhea Bullos is an 11-year-old track athlete living in the Philippines who won three gold medals after running practically barefoot.
She had ‘sneakers’ made from bandages featuring the Nike swoosh which the young girl draw by hand.
After competing in a local running competition, the girl’s story went viral.
She has won three gold medals in the 400-meter, 800-meter, and 1,500-meter runs on December 9 at the Iloilo School Sports Council Meet.
She didn’t just become known to the public because of her success on the track, but also because she earned these medals running barefoot, as could be seen on several photos shared on Facebook by her trainer Predirick Valenzuela.
Young Girl Wins Medals Wearing Plaster Bandages as Shoes
This young athlete beat the rest of the runners, a lot of whom were also in similar makeshift shoes, practically barefoot.
When the photos were shared on social media, they immediately got comments from people saying things like ‘this is by far the best thing I’ve seen today’ and ‘this girl is truly an inspiration’.
‘The girl was probably barefoot because she was probably unable to afford runners, but this didn’t stop her from winning’, wrote another person.
Help Is on the Way?
Some people also shared this young girl’s story on Twitter and tagged Nike as a request to send the girl and other runners some athletic gear for their next competitions.
There are also petitions to Nike for the girl and two of her friends, also runners, to receive a lifetime of free Nike running shoes, as well as their families.
The trainer of Bullos said he is very proud of the girl and claims she worked very hard; however, the competitors often get tired because they don’t have the proper shoes and gear for running.
Aspiring Runner Will now Have Proper Shoes
Bullos was seen and photographed in a shoe store in a local mall trying out new running shoes, as well as some socks and a sports bag.
SM City helped her have these goods and the photos of their shopping spree immediately went viral.
Whether Bullos tested the sneakers on the track remains unknown.
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