Philippines’ Kristina Marie Knott wins gold in the women’s 200m run in the Southeast Asian Games. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines—Sprinter Kristina Marie Knott joined the growing list of Filipino athletes who have secured their spots in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Knott, the Philippine record holder for the 200-meter sprint, earned her spot via the university places in the women’s 200-meter from World Athletics.
The 25-year-old from Saint Croix in the US Virgin Islands was one of the four Olympians who will go to Tokyo via university place alongside Iceland’s Gudbjorg Jona Bjarnadottir, South Sudan’s Lucia Moris, and Singapore’s Veronica Shanti Pereira.
Knott’s last achievements for the Philippines were two silvers and two golds in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games with her 23.01-second run in the 200-meters becoming a national and competition record.
The University of Miami star’s best run of the season is a 23.17-second performance in a race in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in April.
Other Filipinos who qualified for Tokyo are boxers Eumir Marcial, Nesthy Petecio, Irish Magno, and Carlo Paalam, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnast Carlos Yulo, weightlifters Hidilyn Diaz and Elreen Ando, golfer Juvic Pagunasan, rower Cris Nievarez, taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa, skateboarder Margielyn Didal, judoka Kiyomi Watanabe, and shooter Jayson Valdez.