By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Fil-American sprinter Kristina Knott, bidding to secure a berth in the Paris Olympics, broke the Philippine indoor record in women’s 200 meters at the Arkansas Qualifier in Fayetteville, Arkansas over the weekend.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympian clocked 23.57 seconds to shatter the four-year-old national mark of 23.90sec set by Zion Corrales-Nelson at the MPSF Championships in Seattle, Washington.
It was a marked improvement to her 23.80sec clocking in the Tokyo Games although she finished 6th overall in the event won by Madison Whyte, who timed 23.01sec.
Niesha Burgher and Jassani Carter timed 23.09sec and 23.19sec for second and third places, respectively.
Knott’s biggest claim to fame so far was obliterating the 33-year-old national outdoor record in the women’s 100m set by Lydia de Vega-Mercado at the 1987 SEAG by clocking 11.27sec at the 2020 Drake Blue Oval Showcase in Des Moines, Iowa.
She was also a double gold medalist at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
So far, only pole vaulter EJ Obiena has qualified to Paris from the Philippine track and field team.
