NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand — Angel Otom powered the Philippines’ medal drive Friday, capturing two more gold medals and shattering a long-standing record on Day 3 of the 13th Asean Para Games at the 80th Birthday Aquatics Center.
The 22-year-old swimmer broke the women’s 100-meter backstroke S4–S5 record after clocking 1 minute, 43.87 seconds, earning her third gold medal of the meet. Her time erased the 18-year-old mark of 2:33.66 set by Thailand’s Junkum Thatananatch during the 2008 Nakhon Ratchasima Para Games.
Backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Paralympic Committee, Otom later added another gold in the women’s 200-meter freestyle S5, touching the wall in 3:44.49.
A student at the University of the Philippines, Otom said she drew strength from the disappointments she endured at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where she reached the finals of the 50m backstroke S5 and 50m butterfly S5 but finished sixth and fifth, respectively.
“From Paris, ang dami kong naging disappointments and na-open ko ’yun sa lahat. From now on, naging lesson talaga sa akin ’yun and ang lesson na nakuha ko is to fight (From Paris, I had many disappointments and I opened up about them. From now on, those became real lessons for me, and the lesson I learned is to fight),” Otom said.
“May mga times na kahit sa cold room, hindi mo kakayanin ’yan pero kailangan mo magtiwala. Minsan mahirap siyang i-apply sa sarili pero dapat pagkatiwalaan natin ang sarili natin (There are times, even in the call room, when you feel you can’t do it — but you have to trust. Sometimes it’s hard to apply that trust to yourself, but we must believe in ourselves),” she added.
Otom now owns four gold medals and one silver and will aim to close her campaign strong in the women’s 50m freestyle S4–S5 and the mixed 4×50m medley relay (20 points, S1–S10) on Saturday.
Veteran swimmer Ernie Gawilan contributed a silver medal after finishing second in the men’s 100m freestyle S7 with a time of 1:09.32.
In athletics, King James Reyes dominated the men’s 1,500-meter T46, winning gold with a time of 4:17.93 at the 80th Birthday Stadium on Thursday.
Cyril Ongcoy also delivered a standout performance, ruling the men’s 1,500m T12 in 4:26.32 to set a new meet record. He broke the previous mark of 4:47.25, set by Timor Leste’s Domingos Pereira Lobato at the 11th ASEAN Para Games in Solo, Indonesia.
Another debutant, Alyana Nuñez, made an immediate impact by winning gold in the women’s discus throw F11 with a distance of 25.24 meters.
As of 4 p.m. Friday (Manila time), the Philippines stood fourth overall in the medal standings with 18 gold, 19 silver, and 18 bronze medals, trailing Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia as the competition heads into the final stretch.