Kayla Sanchez was once again left agonizingly close to the podium as her individual campaign in the 20th Asian Games ended without a medal on Thursday at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.
Sanchez clocked a national-record 24.75 seconds in the women’s 50-meter freestyle final, good for fourth place and just 0.29 seconds behind bronze medalist Yujie Cheng of China.
The Olympian’s latest heartbreak came after another narrow miss in the 100m freestyle on Tuesday, where she finished fourth, falling just 0.19 seconds short of the bronze.
Wu Qingfeng of China ruled the 50m freestyle in a new Games-record time of 23.95 seconds, while Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey took silver in 24.32.
Despite setting another national record, Sanchez could not end the Philippines’ 28-year wait for an Asian Games swimming medal.
The 50m freestyle also marked the end of Sanchez’s individual campaign in Aichi-Nagoya. She had earlier placed fifth in the women’s 50m backstroke, clocking another national record of 28.19 seconds.
Sanchez had skipped the 100m backstroke on Wednesday. The Philippine coaching staff opted to pull her from the event so she could prioritize recovery and prepare for her final individual event, the 50m freestyle.
But even with the decision allowing her to focus on the sprint, Sanchez again found herself just outside the podium.
