PUTRA JAYA, Malaysia—Playing true to form—and her words—Rio Olympian Mary Joy Tabal poured her might in the women’s marathon event to hand Team Philippines its first gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games here.
The Cebuana lass, standing no taller than five feet, negotiated the 42.195-kilometer footrace with the best time of 2 hours, 48 minutes at 26 seconds and stood tallest at the podium against rivals from Vietnam and Thailand.
It was a dominating performance for Tabal as she led from start to finish despite the lack of sleep going into the early morning event.
She was both excited and nervous.
“Kada hakbang ko noong una ay napakabigat dahil parang bitbit ko ang lahat ng mga paghihirap ko bago lumaban. Ninenerbiyos ako nung umpisa pero tuwing naririnig ko ang hiyawan ng mga Pilipino sa ruta lumalakas ang katawan ko,” she said.
Tabal, with the Philippine flag wrapped around her, celebrated with a throng of Filipino supporters after crossing the finish.
Tears fell as she received her gold medal, which was made sweeter by dethroning the SEA Games defending champion in Natthaya Thanaronnawat of Thailand, who placed third with a clocking of 2:58:17 behind silver medal finisher Hoang Thi Tanh of Vietnam (2:55:53).
Enjoying a wide lead over Hoang, Tabal received a bottled mineral water from Philippine AthleticsTrack and Field Association president Philip Ella Juico. They hugged each other after the race.
Also waiting at the finish were Philippine Sports Commission Commissioner Ramon Fernandez and PSC Executive Director Atty. Carlo Abarquez.
Jeson Agravante, the Philippines’ bet in the male division, failed to finish the race after suffering cramps on the left leg in the last five kilometers.
Back in Manila, PSC chairman Butch Ramirez congratulated Tabal for her victory and expressed hope “it (feat) can break more gold medals.”
Ramirez said he informed President Rodrigo Duterte right away, through his executive assistant Bong Go “that Ms. Tabal just gave us the first gold,
49 to go (on Cynthia Carrion’s medal projection)”
Carrion, the chef de mission of Team Philippines, is looking at 50 gold medals for the country’s campaign.
Kayla gives up sprint crown
On the track, reigning Southeast Asian Games sprint queen Kayla Richardson will relinquish her crown in the women’s 100-meter run to focus on the 200-meter and relay events when the athletics competition of the 29th SEA Games gets going Tuesday at the KL Sports City here.
The 17-year old Richardson said she’s more comfortable competing in the 200-meter run as well as in the 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays despite becoming the youngest century dash champion in the history of the biennial meet in 2015 in Singapore.
“I don’t really want to say that I am giving it up, but this is not the event I have been training for,” said the University of Southern California (USC) freshman. “I will also be running in the 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays.”
Richardson’s father, Jeffrey, said pulling his daughter out of the century dash is a logical move.
“The only reason Kayla is skipping the 100 is that she hasn’t run the race in over a year and her coach at USC wants to focus on the 200-meter race,” he said. “She is very capable of winning the gold in the 200.”
Cray ready to defend titles
Filipino-American Eric Shawn Cray will be bracing to defend his men’s 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles titles on the same day on Tuesday.
Cray, a two-time Olympian and record-holder in the century dash, vowed that he will not surrender his crowns despite the very tight schedule in which both events will be played less than an hour apart.
His schedule begins at 3:10 p.m. with the start of the 100-meter heats followed by the 400-meter low hurdle preliminaries at 4 p.m.
“I’ll go for both. I’m not gonna hold off and I’ll go out there to win the gold,” said Cray, who is bracing a tight finish in the century dash against a rising Malaysian sprinter.
Injuries deal major blow
In the midst of the athletics team’s celebration, it suffered a major blow when gold-medal prospects Ernest John Obiena and Patrick John Unso crashed with injuries few days before the competitions begin.
The European-trained Obiena suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee while Patrick Unso had a recurring hamstring injury that makes it hard for him to compete.
Juico admitted that the development is a major setback, but they have to move on and pin their hopes on other athletes who are ready to surpass the federation’s five gold medals in the previous SEA Games in Singapore.
“We win some, we lose some; that’s the way of life,” said Juico shortly after Tabal’s gold-medal victory.
“We are all saddened by the bad news, but we have to live with it. It’s just that the kid (Obiena) really wanted to win and is so determined to bring honor to the country.”
