By MARK REY MONTEJO
Javelin thrower Cendy Asusano almost made it to the podium but was 1.19 meters short as the Philippine Para team ended its campaign in the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games without a medal over the weekend at the Stade de France.
Asusano threw the spear to a distance of 15.05 meters in the F54 event – her personal best – to finish fourth in the six-woman final.
Her fourth-place finish was the best performance by the 6-player PH team in the quadrennial event.
Uzbekistan’s Nurkhon Kurbanova impressed with her world-record throw of 21.12m to easily clinch the gold medal while Nigeria’s Flora Ugwunwa (19.26m) settled for second.
Iran’s Elham SalehI managed 16.24m but it was good enough to beat the proud daughter of Pasig City.
Other Filipinos who saw action in the event were swimmers Angel Otom and Ernie Gawilan, racer Jerrold Mangliwan, archer Agustina Bantiloc and taekwondo jin Allain Ganapin.
The last time the country won a medal was during the 2016 Rio Games courtesy of late table tennis great Filipina Josephine Medina.
Medina, who passed away in 2021, delivered the second medal for the country in Paralympic history after snaring the bronze honor in the women’s singles class 8 category.
Powerlifter Adeline Dumapong produced the country’s first medal in the Para Games off her bronze in women’s −82.5 kg powerlifting class of the 2000 Sydney edition.
China is poised to win the overall title once again after grabbing 94 golds, 76 silvers and 50 bronzes followed by Great Britain (49-44-31), Team USA (36-42-27), the Netherlands (27-17-12), Brazil (25-26-38), Italy (24-15-32), Ukraine (22-28-32), host France (19-28-28), Australia (18-17-28) and Japan (14-10-17).
