Filipino-American Eric Cray needed to dig deep to bring home the gold in the 400-meter hurdles event but had little time to celebrate the feat, Tuesday night in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The 28-year-old clocked in at 50.03 seconds in a photo finish, as he narrowly edged Vietnam’s Quach Cong Lich by a mere two-hundredths of a second.
This is Cray’s third straight SEA Games gold.
However, the Olongapo-born athlete needed to get back on track as he figured in the final of the 100 meters.
Battling fatigue, Cray mustered a 10.43 second finish in the event, good for second. Hometown hero Khairul Hafiz Jantan was five-hundredths of a second better, dethroning Cray.