Lorenzo bags equestrian gold over Leviste

BEKASI, West Java — Diego Lorenzo rode perfectly all day and won the gold medal over Philippine teammate Toni Leviste Monday in the individual show jumping category of equestrian in the Southeast Asian Games at the Arthasaya Stables Country Club in Depok.

Flawless atop his mount Dream 292, the 21-year-old Lorenzo, the youngest in the four-man Philippine squad, nipped the veteran Leviste, who had to settle for the silver due to a knockdown in the third round of the classification.

“We are so happy, this is amazing,” Joker Arroyo, daughter and namesake of her father, the senator, said of the 1-2 finish.

Lorenzo and Leviste actually finished tied for first. After a jumpoff failed to settle the deadlock, the judges went back to the results of their previous rides in the classification.

With a team silver that came Saturday, the Philippine squad matched its feat in the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, where Mikee Cojuangco, now acting as team manager, also won the show jumping gold on the final day of competitions.

“They both had amazing rides,” Arroyo continued. “It was a heck of a performance.”

Ardi Harpsoro of Indonesia bagged the bronze.