Hallasgo's silver caps athletics' SEAG campaign
Cramps got in the way of Christine Hallasgo’s title-retention bid in the women's marathon as she settled for the silver medal in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday.
Hallasgo was still in contention for the gold until cramps slowed her down in the last 600 meters to finish with a time of 2 hours, 56 minutes and 0.70seconds.
TheBukidnonbetcrossedthefinishlineoneminute behind eventual champion Odekta Naibaho Elvina of Indonesia, who clocked 2:55.280. Vietnam’s Ngoc Hoa Hoang Thi took home the bronze with 2:57.350.
Overall, the Philippines went home with five gold, seven silver and 14 bronze medals. The gold medals came from EJ Obiena (men’s pole vault, Clinton Bautista (men’s 110-meter hurdles), Eric Cray (men’s 400m hurdles), William Morrison (men’s shot put), and Kayla
Richardson (women’s 100m).
The team failed to match or surpass its 11 gold, 8 silver and 8 bronze medals in the 2019 SEAG held at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium in Tarlac, but Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association head coach Joeffrey Chua still considers the tracksters’ stint here a success.
“This version of the SEA Games is by far the most challenging because of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. But with 1 SEAG record, 5 new Philippine national records recorded, and 8 personal records established, this can be considered as a very successful campaign for PATAFA national athletes,” said Chua.
Silver medalists were Kyla Richardson (200 meters, 23.56), Hokett delos Santos (pole vault, 5 meters), Janry Ubas (long jump, 7.73 meters), Aries Toledo (decathlon, 7499), Sarah Dequinan (Heptahlon), Harry Diones (triple jump, 15.87m) and Hallasgo.