HANGZHOU – Wheelchair racer Jerrold Pete Mangliwan came charging down the last 30 meters to slip past Japanese frontrunner Ueyonabaru Hirota and complete a thrilling come-from-behind win in the men’s 400-meter T52 finals of the 4th Asian Para Games on Friday.
Mangliwan, racing in lane 6, was running second entering the homestretch and was neck-and-neck with Hirota before nosing out his Japanese foe in a personal best time of one minute and .01.54 seconds to the latter’s 1:01.79.
Mangliwan wins Philippines' fourth gold
The Tokyo Paralympian delivered the country’s fifth gold medal - and its first in athletics in the continental sportsfest.
The Tabuk, Kalinga native also became the country’s third double medalist in this competition backed by the PSC after swimmer Ernie Gawilan and chess player Menandro Redor, who won two golds on Thursday, respectively.
Mangliwan’s success also enabled the country to remain at No. 12 in the overall medal standings among 44 countries seeing action on the penultimate day of the 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games in this port city.
“Ang sabi ni coach (Joel Deriada) lumabas ka lang ng malakas at magtiwala ka sa endurance mo. Kung ano 'yung linabas mo sa 100 meters, tiwala ka lang at nagbunga po,” said an elated Mangliwan of the winning strategy that also gave him the silver medal in the men’s 100-meter T52 race three days ago.
“Four times ako nag-Asian Para Games ngayon lang ako nag-medal ng ganito dito kaya binuhos ko na ang lahat.”
Formidable opposition
Hirota was a bronze medalist in the Tokyo Paralympic Games while Ito Tatsuya won the men’s 100-meter T52 gold last Tuesday. He took the bronze (1:04.96).
Teammate Arman Dino clocked 55.45 seconds and finished seventh overall in the heats to advance to the finals of the men’s 400-meter T47 finals Saturday.
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