FREDERICK Ramirez set a new course record as he won one of three golds harvested by the Philippines recently at the Thailand Open Track and Field Championships. Ramirez topped the men’s 400-meter event in 46.58 seconds, eclipsing the meet mark of 46.77 seconds.
His teammate Michael Carl Del Prado settled for the silver medal at 46.82 seconds, while Indonesian Muhammad Ramdham came in at 47.43 seconds for the bronze medal.
Janry Ubas took the second gold for the Philippines when he topped the men’s long jump in 7.51 meters, beating Chinese Taipei’s Hua Yu Wen (7.41) and Hong Kong’s Pak Hang Won (7.37).
On the other hand, Bernalyn Bejoy ruled the women’s 800-m after submitting a time of 2:13.31 seconds to claim the Philippines’ third gold.
Bejoy was ahead of Ruedee Netthai (2:17.30) and Chanapa Boonitsarasaree (2:18.24), who bagged silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Ramirez dedicated the win to national coach Jojo Posadas, who is also his mentor at Jose Rizal University.
“It’s my first time to join the Thailand Open and I wanted to perform well,” said Ramirez, who clocked 47.82s in the heats before registering 46.78s in the semifinals.
The 6’1” Ramirez just competed in season 99 of NCAA athletics, seeing action in the 200m, 400m, 800m, and 4x400m events, and was named Most Valuable Player for leading JRU to its third straight crown and 10th overall title.
Ramirez recently set new records in the 400m and 200m events in the NCAA and pocketed the gold in the 4x400m relay and the bronze in the 800m.
He clocked 46.95 seconds in the 400m to eclipse his 48.03s performance last year. He ruled the 200m in 21.43s to erase the 21.93s record of fellow Heavy Bomber Russel Galleon six years ago.