CORDILLERA pride Jenelyn Olsim hoisted the country’s flag anew after bagging bronze medal in -54 kg women’s muay in the 2019 Arafura Games held in Darwin, Australia.
Olsim lost in her semifinal bout against Y.S. of Australia to settle for bronze as John Lloyd Cabalo and Lora Micah Amogius became multiple gold medalists for their respective sports after ruling their third event.
Cabalo captured the 13-14 women’s 4x400m gold Monday, April 29, along with Joviane Calixto, Romel Bautista, and Reymark Godoy with a time of three minutes, 29.11 seconds, to win over their teammates Al-Nhaquiev Sappari, Nicko Caparoso, Jason Buenacosa, and Norman Carl Luardo (3:32.12).
Amogius also won her third gold Sunday night when she teamed up with Erika Lois Suelan, Zoemarie Hilario, and Krisha Joanna Apin in the 400m individual medley with a time of 4:42.42, nearly nine seconds ahead of silver medalist Northern Territory.
The 18-year-old Cabalo of Puerto Princesa won the 400m and 4x100m relay, while the 13-year-old Amogius of Davao City took the 100m backstroke and the 200m individual medley golds Saturday to give the Philippines a rousing start to its campaign supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and Standard Insurance.
Monday’s morning session in athletics also saw Romel Bautista winning the gold in the men’s 400m hurdles with a time of 1:03.16. The Philippines also made it a sweep in the 4x400m when the women’s team of May Therese Gula, Abegail Manzano, Jessel Lumapas, and Ara Delotavo captured the gold with a time of 4:37.10.
Swimming bagged five gold medals Sunday with John Paul Elises notching a new Arafura Games record in the 15-16 men’s 100m butterfly with a time of 1:00.11. He broke the previous mark of 1:00.33 set by Ross Pearce in 2001.
Joshua Del Rio (men’s 15-16 200m breaststroke), Fritz Jun Rodriguez (men’s 17 and over 100m butterfly), and Apin (800m freestyle) also won golds in swimming.
Mark Anthony Casenas won his second gold Sunday when he topped the men’s long jump, as Franz Gala Bintad and Eliza Coyum claimed the men’s javelin throw and women’s 100m hurdles respectively.
The Arafura Games continues with the Philippine men’s basketball team opening its campaign against Torres Strait Tuesday. The final day of swimming and the continuation of muay will also happen Tuesday, April 30. (With a report from SunStar Davao)