PHNOM PENH. – The Philippine obstacle race team put the finishing touches to another perfect outing Sunday, sweeping the two relay gold medals in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at the Chroy Chavrang Convention Center Car Park.
A day after the smashing 1-2 finishes of Mark Julius Rodelas and Kevin Pascua in men’s individual and Precious Cabuya and Kaizen dela Serna in the distaff side, the Pinoy male and female relay crews turned in world record-obliterating performances in the relay finale to complete a clean sweep of the four events.
Ahgie Radan, Elias Tabac, Mervin Guarte, and Jay-ar de Castro hurdled all the obstacles in a new global standard of 24.47 seconds to beat Malaysia’s Ghalib Mohamad Azimi, Mohd Redha Rozlan, Nuur Hafis Said Alwi and Yoong Wei Theng, who timed 25.15, and claim the closeout gold.
They achieved this feat minutes after Sandi Menchi Abahan, Mecca Cortizano, Milky Mae Tejares and Maritess Nocyao reigned supreme in the women’s category with a world mark of 33.73 at the expense of Indonesia’s Anggun Yolanda, Ayu Pupita, Mudji Mulyani and Rahmayuna Fadillah (35.06).
The twin triumphs capped a swashbuckling campaign for the Pinoy OCR 100m aces, who not only took home four golds out of four events but also reset four world records, courtesy of the men’s and women’s relays, Rodelas in men’s individual (25.09) and Cabuya in the women’s event (32.73).
The 12-member delegation duplicated their perfect feat in the sport’s SEAG debut in 2019 in Manila, where they went six-of-six.
“The formula for their success and triumph is simple and straight-forward – dedication, commitment, professionalism, patriotism and love for family and self,” said Pilipinas Obstacle Sports Federation president Al Agra.
