Robyn Lauren Brown celebrates her gold medal win in the Asian Athletics Championships. –JUNE NAVARRO
BANGKOK—Robyn Brown struck gold in the women’s 400m hurdles on Saturday, rewarding Team Philippines its first medal at the 25th Asian Athletics Championships.
The 28-year-old Brown clocked 57.50 seconds in defeating the Japanese duo of Eri Utsunomiya (57.73) and Ami Yamamoto (57.80) in the final at the Supachalasai National Stadium here.
“It was crazy. Honestly, I just wanted to do my best. I had a little trouble finishing the race the past two SEA Games and good thing I was able to pull through today,’’ said Brown, the national record-holder in the event at 56.44 seconds.
Daughter of a Filipina nurse based in Los Angeles, Brown was a silver medalist in her pet event at the 2023 Cambodia Southeast Asian Games following a bronze performance at the 2022 Hanoi edition.
“I hope I can carry this momentum to the Asian Games and also hopefully to make the Olympics with several more relays coming up,’’ said Brown, an event coordinator in basketball tournaments and activities.
She’s still far from the 54.85-second Olympic clocking, but remains positive that she could hit the standard before the window closes a year from now.
Eric Cray wasn’t able to duplicate a podium finish for the country after landing sixth in the men’s 400m hurdles final.
The six-time SEA Games champion and record-holder was ahead halfway through the race, but couldn’t sustain the effort with a 49.76-second finish.
Qatar’s Bassem Mohamed Hemeida ruled the race in 48.64 seconds, beating Japan’s Yusaku Kodama (48.96) and bronze medalist Santhosh Tamilarasan of India (49.09).