HANGZHOU – Wheelchair racer Jerrold Pete Mangliwan came charging down the last 30 meters, slipping past erstwhile Japanese frontrunner Ueyonabaru Hirota to win the gold medal in thrilling come-from-behind win in the men’s 400-meter T52 finals of the 4th Asian Para Games athletic meet here Friday.
After making his move at the halfway mark, Mangliwan, racing in lane 6, was running second entering the homestretch and was neck-and-neck with Hirota before nosing out his Japanese foe in a personal best time of one minute and .01.54 seconds to the latter’s 1:01.79.
The Tabuk, Kalinga native also became the country’s third double after swimmer Ernie Gawilan and chess player Menandro Redor, who won two golds on Thursday, respectively.
Mangliwan’s success also enabled the country to remain at No. 12 in the overall medal standings among 44 countries seeing action on the penultimate day of the 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games in this beautiful port city.
“Ang sabi ni coach (Joel Deriada) lumabas ka lang ng malakas at magtiwala ka sa endurance mo. Kung ano yung linabas mo sa 100 meters, tiwala ka lang at nagbunga po,” said an elated Mangliwan of the winning strategy that also gave him the silver medal in the men’s 100-meter T52 race three days ago.
“Four times ako nag- Asian Para Games ngayon lang ako nag-medal ng ganito dito kaya binuhos ko na ang lahat. ”
He said that he was undaunted by his formidable Japanese foes in Hirota, a bronze medalist in the Tokyo Paralympic Games, and Ito Tatsuya, who won the men’s 100-meter T52 gold last Tuesday and took the bronze (1:04.96).
Gawilan was hopeful that because of his success here, “this will be the start that para athletes will be just equally recognized as their able-bodied counterparts. Sana ito na yung umpisa na ang pagtingin ng pantay-pantay sa lahat ng sektor.”
