Abuan rules high jump for third Philippine gold in Isabela

Mariel Abuan completes her golden leap.

ILAGAN CITY, ISABELA—High jumper Mariel Abuan won another gold medal for the Philippines at the end of the 14th Southeast Asian Youth Games Sunday at Ilagan City Sports Complex here, even as Singaporean sprinter Reuben Rainer Lee Siong En reset his own record in the 200-meter run.

The 14-year-old Abuan, who hails from Zambales, cleared the high jump bar by 1.65 meters to rule the girls’ event in the face of strong opposition from Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.

The Vietnamese pair of Thanh Vy Nguyen and Quynh Giang Pham settled for the silver and bronze medals, respectively, with 1.61 and 1.58 meters.

Singaporean Lee tallied 21.61 seconds to snatch the gold and underscore the dominance of foreign youth athletes here.

As of 2 p.m. and with only a handful of events left to be played, Thailand ran away with the overall title with 16 golds, eight silvers and four bronzes. Vietnam was second with a 7-9-10 gold-silver-bronze tally. Malaysia was third at 4-4-2, followed by Indonesia (4-2-2) and the Philippines (3-7-9). Singapore (2-3-6), Timor Leste (1-3-1) and Brunei, which did not win any medal, rounded out the participating countries.

Abuan, though, refused to be cowed by the opposition.

“It was challenging and enjoyable and I was nervous at the start because my opponents were very tall,” said the 14-year-old Botolan National High School student, a rookie in international competitions, in Filipino. “I just steadied myself and made sure I would do everything to bring glory for the country.”

The Philippines’ other golds came from pole vaulters Ma. Khrizzie Clarisse Ruzol and Hakkett Delos Santos.