Kayla Richardson delivered another golden performance after seven years.
After missing on the gold in the 200 meters, the 24-year-old standout reigned as the fastest woman in Southeast Asia with the gold in the women’s 100 meters with 11.60, Wednesday at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Richardson, who finished with the bronze in the longer event, consolidated her solid run in the preliminaries and held her own as the only Filipino in the final race that saw the top four finishers separated by just 0.07 seconds.
“Coming all the way over here and getting through like the trials and everything, it just feels amazing,” Richardson said after the race to ABS-CBN News’ Dyan Castillejo.
“I knew it will happen again, but doubts are definitely [there], I think. But staying confident in yourself, trusting in your training and trusting your coach, and silencing all the noise are so crucial and important. So, just getting up to that line and silencing everything, and just like do everything I do every day in practice, and let it go. It’s what I did.”
Singapore’s Shanti Pereira missed out on a golden double with 11.62 to instead bag the 100m silver, while Thailand’s Supanich Poolkerd ended with 11.66 for the bronze.
Indonesia’s Valentin Longteng stopped the clock at 11.67.
Earlier in the day, Evalyn Palbrica notched the bronze in javelin throw with a length of 49.07m.
