KUALA LUMPUR – The Philippines, led by teenage sprint ace Cielo Honasan and seasoned powerlifter Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta, struck for five more gold medals yesterday in the 9th ASEAN Para Games here.
Honasan, 15, blitzed her way to the 400m gold in the T44 and T45 combined in 63.35 seconds to complete a golden treble. She earlier won the 100m and 200m golds the previous days.
Her golden feat installed herself as the games’ queen of the track.
Interestingly, Honasan, classified as T44, beat a higher classified runner in Thailand’s Gagun Pagjiraporn, who is a T45. She cried after the race.
“I just couldn’t control my emotions, that’s why I cried,” said Honasan, who is set to receive a P150,000 for each gold she won as an incentive mandated by law.
Dumapong-Ancheta, one of the Filipino Para Games pioneers, underscored her status as one of the region’s top lifters by winning the gold in the 86kg with a lift of 116kg.
“I just want the gold, nothing else,” said the 43-year-old Dumapong-Ancheta, the country’s first Paralympic medal winner after taking home a bronze in Sydney Games 17 years ago.
Also winning golds for the country were three-wheeled sprinter Prudencia Panaligan, wheelchair-bound thrower Cendy Asusano and blind thrower Rosalie Terrefiel.
Panaligan reigned supreme in the 200m for T53/54 in 33.46, and Asusano in discus throw for F54.
It was Asusano’s second gold after topping the javelin for F54 and F55 combined Monday.
In all, the country now has 16 golds, 17 silvers and 18 bronzes to match its Singapore output.
Indonesia is the Games’ virtual champion with 90 golds, 51 silvers and 36 bronze. A far second is Malaysia with a 68-63-51 (gold-silver-bronze) haul.