PARA swimmer Ariel Alegarbes won the country's first gold medal in the 2021 Asian Youth Para Games in Manama, Bahrain on Friday night.
Alegarbes topped the men's 17 to 18 years old 100m butterfly S14 with a clocking of one minute and 1.96 seconds, giving the Philippines its first gold in this quadrennial competition in eight years.
Rei Kagose of Japan placed second with a time of 1:02.74 followed by In-Choo of Thailand with a time of 1:06.93.
Gold-medal drought
Long jumper Jomer Anden was the last Filipino to win a gold in the Asian Youth Para Games when he won in 2013.
A total of 32 countries are participating in this conclave that formally began on Thursday and will conclude on Monday.
The Philippines sent 20 athletes from athletics, badminton, boccia, table tennis, swimming, and wheelchair basketball.
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