IT’S first blood for John Rambo Chicano.
The Pinoy triathlete ushered in the Philippines Day 1 haul after leading a 1-2 finish in in the men’s triathlon event of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
As of 5 p.m., the Philippines led the medal tally with 14 gold medals, six silvers and four bronze medals.
Vietnam is second at 3-7-4, while Malaysia is third at 3-1-1. Singapore is fourth at 2-2-3, while perennial overall winner Thailand is fifth so far at 2-1-4.
Brunei, which was supposed to host this year’s event but begged off, is sixth at 1-2-1, while Indonesia is at seventh at 0-2-3.
Arnis and dancesports--two events usually dropped by other sports to offset the Philippines’ advantage--delivered big time on the first day with nine gold medals.
The arnis team, which is hoping to sweep all 20 gold medals in the meet, earned four golds after Dexler Bolambao, Niño Mark Talledo, VIllardo Cunamay and Mike Bañares won their live stick competitions.
Dancesport also saw the games first multiple-gold medalists after Sean Aranar and Ana Nualla delivered three in the open standard, single dance tango and single dance Viennes.
Mark Jayson Gayon and Mary Joy Renigon added two in the single slow Foxtrot and single dance Waltz.
The other gold medalists for the Philippines on the first day were Agatha Wong in wushu and the men’s team in sepak takraw.
The Philippines is hoping to win its first overall title in the SEA Games since 2005, which it also hosted. So far, the the country is on track and at 14 golds, is already 10 less than its total output in 2017, when it finished at sixth overall with a medal tally of 24-33-64. (ML)