Eric Cray remained as the king of the 400-meter hurdles in the Southeast Asian Games.
The 33-year-old track star collected his fifth straight Games gold in the said event in dramatic fashion with 50.41 seconds, Tuesday at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Cray had to work for this one as he needed to edge out hometown bet Cong Lich Quach, who finished with 50.82.
Singapore’s Jun Jie Calvin Quek bagged the bronze with 51.19.
The result was a little slower than the 50.21 the Filipino-American standout ran in 2019 and definitely way behind his SEA Games record of 49.40, but it resulted in a gold nonetheless — the country’s 33rd and third of the day.
Cray competed in a single outdoor competition prior to the Games, finishing the 400-meter hurdles of the USATF Golden Games with 49.86.
Two silvers were also added to the medal haul of the Philippine athletics team as Harry Diones finished second in the men’s triple jump with a best jump of 15.87 meters and Sarah Dequinan ended as heptathlon runner-up with combined 5,381 points.
William Morrison III also added another bronze with a third-place finish in the men’s discus throw with a best heave of 50.44 meters.
On the women’s 400m hurdles, Robyn Brown pocketed a back-to-back SEA Games bronze with a time of 56.44, just 0.03 seconds behind silver medalist Thi Lan Quach of Vietnam’s 56.41.
