ILAGAN, Isabela – Gold medals remained elusive yesterday as Philippines settled for two silver and three bronze medals even as Vietnam continued its dominance in the 12th Southeast Asian Youth Athletics Championships at the City of Ilagan Sports Complex here.
Caviteña Jesell Lumapas saved the day for the Filipinos with a silver in the girls’ 400m and a bronze in the girls’ 200m, while Leyte native Lealyn Sanita posted a silver in the girls’ 1500m.
Hometown bet John Carlo Yuzon added another bronze in the boys 200m, even as Bernalyn Bejoy of Negros Occidental snared the girls’ 400m hurdles to improve the PH team’s gold-silver-bronze tally to eight silver and 13 bronze medals.
The 16-year-old Lumapas timed 58.94 seconds in the girls 400m, finishing less than a second behind gold winner Thi hong Han Le of Vietnam (58.16sec). Indonesia’s Maulidah came in third with 59.25sec.
“Sayang kasi pangit yung takbo ko ngayon,” said Lumapas, who came into the tournament still recuperating from fever and colds.
The Grade 10 student at Paliparan National High School in Dasmariñas returned with a third-place finish in the girls 200m with a time of 26.02sec behind Malaysia’s Nor Aliyah Abd Rahman (25.25sec) and Vietnam’s Thi Hoa Duong (25.68sec).
Sanita, a Palarong Pambansa ang Batang Pinoy standout, almost snared the PH team’s first gold medal but ran out of gas in the final 200 meters with a time of 4 minutes and 55.63 seconds – just a hairline from gold winner Thu Hang Doan of Vietnam (4:45.53).
“Naubusan ako ng hangin nung bandang huli,” said Sanita, 16.
Yuzon, for his part, clocked 22.79sec for the boys’ 200m, while Bejoy posted 64.15sec in the girls’ 400m hurdles for the two bronzes.
Vietnam racked up seven gold medals to hike its medal tally to 12 golds and seven silvers.
Malaysia came in second with five golds, five silvers, and six bronzes.
Indonesia was at third with five golds, two silvers and three bronzes, even as Thailand clinched five golds.
