JAKARTA — Mary Joy Tabal placed 11th in the women’s marathon competition in the 18th Asian Games at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium here Sunday.
Tabal, the defending Southeast Asian (SEA) Games marathon champion, finished the race in 2 hours, 51 minutes and 41 seconds.
Bahrain’s Rose Chelimo won the gold medal with a time of 2:34:51. Last year, she clocked 2:27:11 to win the race in the World Championships in London.
The silver medal went to Japan’s Keiko Nogami, who registered 2:36:27, while Korean Kim Hye Song got the bronze medal in 2:37:20.
“I really tried my best but my opponents are really strong,” said the 29-year-old Tabal, who trained for months in Tuscany, Italy in preparation for the Asian Games.
Three Filipinos were scheduled to compete later in the day. Filipino-American Kristina Knott was set to run in the women’s 100-m semifinals after qualifying with a time of 11.74 seconds in Heat 2.
Eric Cray, another Filipino-American, was also set to compete in the men’s 400-m hurdles semifinals with Francis Medina after heats were cancelled due to lack of participants.
Meanwhile, reigning SEA Games decathlon champion Aries Toledo withdrew from the competition after suffering from an elbow injury during practice.
Toledo was preparing for his afternoon events — pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters — but he fell on the pole vault cross bar after missing the practice height, with the crossbar pinning his right elbow.
Toledo has performed well in the first two events. He clocked 10.84 seconds to finish second behind Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Jasem Al Qaree (10.77) in the 100-meters, the first event of decathlon on Saturday.
He also placed second in the 110-meter hurdles on Sunday morning, clocking 14.85 seconds.
“It’s a setback on our medal campaign as Toledo was well on his way to a podium finish when the accident occurred,” Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Dr. Philip Juico said in a statement. (Jean Malanum/PNA)
