JOANIE Delgaco finished 20th in the 2024 Paris Games rowing regatta, counting a number of moral victories and breakthrough feats at the close of her Olympic campaign.
Delgaco bucked a slow start to finish second in the Final D with a time of seven minutes, 43.83 seconds - her best time in all of her five races at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
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The first Filipina rower to compete in the Olympics was also the best Southeast Asian finisher after reigning SEA Games champion Pham Thi Hue of Vietnam clocked 7:47.84.
Delgaco was fifth halfway into the race when she made an all-out effort in the next 500 meters to take the second position which she maintained until the end.
The former beach volleyball player-turned-rower was visibly spent and out of breath after the last-ditch effort.
Her clocking in the Final D was far better than the time the Iriga City native registered in the Semifinal C/D where she checked in at 8:00.18.
In her first three races, the 26-year-old Delgaco had times of 7:56.26 in the heats, 7:55.00 in the repechage, and 7:58.30 in the quarterfinals.
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