Supriati bags another gold and Games record
Supriati bags another gold and Games record
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat
JAKARTA (JP): Supriati Sutono won the much-anticipated rematch
against Malaysian rival Yu Fang Yuan yesterday in the 10,000
meters, landing her second gold medal and Games record.
Supriati, 25, finished in 34 minutes 2.26 seconds, well inside
the Games mark of 35:21.43. Yuan, 21, was next in 34:18.67.
Myanmar's 15-year-old barefoot runner, Mar Win Win, won the
bronze with a time of 35:09.84.
On Monday, Supriati also beat Yuan in setting a new record in
the 5,000 meters.
Her lone gold yesterday saved the day for the hosts, which
scraped with an additional silver and two bronzes.
Thailand won four of the eight golds on offer and five
silvers.
The 10,000 meters was a two-woman race from the outset of the
25 laps.
Yuan set a furious pace, but Supriati shrewdly tucked in
behind her.
She pulled away from the badly fading Yuan in the backstretch
of the final lap.
"I ran the pace that I wanted and just wanted to stay behind
her most of the race," Supriati said.
Yuan's coach, Rengan Pakkri, described the Indonesian as
"extremely good" and said he had underestimated her.
"Until yesterday, we thought the 5,000 and 10,000 meters were
ours," he said.
A final showdown between the two in the 1,500 meters now seems
in doubt, as Yuan was apparently spiked by one of the runners
during the race. Her foot was bleeding as she left the track.
"It will be up to her whether she is able to compete," Pakkri
said.
Supriati was nonchalant about her chances of achieving a hat
trick of golds in the 1,500 meters, due to be held Saturday. "My
target was the 5,000 meters, but of course I'll try my best."
Elma Posadas
Filipina Elma Posadas confirmed her standing as one of the
region's most outstanding and enduring athletes with her second
gold of the Games.
The mother of one grabbed the heptathlon in a Games record of
5,269 points, breaking the mark held by Indonesia's Rumini of
5,204.
Elma, 30, won four of the seven heptathlon events..
On Monday, she won the long jump gold, her eigth gold medal in
that event since debuting in the 1983 SEA Games in Singapore.
She has a remarkable 11 golds to her Games tally.
Aging made it difficult to maintain the discipline for
training, she said.
"This is the most difficult for me, but my mind kept on
telling me 'fight Elma!'" she recounted.
She is not discounting the possibility of competing in the
next Games in Brunei in 1999.
"Maybe I'll concentrate on one event," she said, referring to
her cherished long jump.
Outstanding among the Thai run of golds was A. Kerdchang, who
took the women's high jump gold with a new record of 1.88 meters.
The jump was three centimeters higher than the old record held by
compatriot R. Taemsri, who finished second.
Malaysia got two golds along with one silver and bronze.
Their long jumper, Zaki Sadri, broke his own Games record of
7.77 meters with a jump of 7.79.
The second Malaysian gold in the women's 10,000 meter walk was
also a record-breaking performance, with Anastasia Silvaraj
crossing the finish line in 48:6.05. The former record was
51:45.10.