JUST six days after winning silver for the Philippines at the 2025 Singapore Open Track and Field Championships, national team athlete Sonny Wagdos secured another runner-up finish—this time in the men’s 5,000-meter final at the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships held Thursday evening, May 1, at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas, Tarlac.
The 31-year-old Wagdos, a former standout from the University of Mindanao (UM)-Davao City and silver medalist at the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Cambodia, clocked 14 minutes and 58.97 seconds (14:58.97) to take silver. National teammate Yacine Guermali retained his gold medal with a time of 14:35.99 in a field of 40 runners.
Prince Joey Lee, representing Spectrum of Sto. Niño Dialysis Center, finished third as he registered 15:11.42.
In an interview with SunStar Davao on Friday, May 2, Wagdos expressed disappointment over the decision to divide the 5,000-meter event into two heats, which he said was only announced that morning.
"Kung nagsabay mi, mapildi man ko nya among time piritng kusuga (If we ran together, I would’ve lost to him, but our time would’ve been incredibly fast)," he said. "Buntag lang gi-announce nga magduha ka heats ang 5K unya gabii ang among dula. Nganong sa una maski daghan sad to wala man mi gitunga (It was only announced in the morning that there would be two heats for the 5K, and our event was in the evening. Why is it that before, even when there were many participants, we weren’t split up?)"
Wagdos and Guermali both opted to skip the 1,500-meter event. The former is set to compete in the 10,000 meters on Saturday, May 3.
At the Singapore Open, Wagdos clocked 14:53.23 to place second behind Daniel Simanjuntak, who won gold in 14:47.79. Singapore’s Shaun Boon Hee Goh took bronze with 15:05.32.
Despite the split-heat setup, Wagdos assured that his recent performance won’t affect his qualification for the upcoming SEA Games in Bangkok this December, as the country will field two entries in the 5,000m.
Meanwhile, Robyn Brown secured a dominant win in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, breaking away from Paris Olympian Lauren Hoffman to clock 57.39 seconds. Brown's performance marked her first victory over Hoffman in three matchups. Hoffman, battling a left Achilles injury, finished second in 1:00.20, while Thailand’s Anisa Wenuwamarak took third with a time of 1:00.42.
Kristina Knott overcame a stumble in the final meters of the women’s 200-meter race, crossing the line at 24.12 seconds to claim gold. Despite bruising her shoulder, knee, and hip, the Tokyo Olympian held off Jessica Laurance (24.25) and Papua New Guinea’s Patricia Kuku (25.84).
In the men’s 200 meters, Fil-Am sprinter Marc Anthony Rosario set a new national record with a 20.82-second finish, surpassing Trenten Beram’s previous record of 20.84 seconds from the 2017 SEA Games. MLSA