PATTAYA, Thailand – John Cabang Tolentino registered a new Southeast Asian Games record in the men’s 110m hurdles, Hokett Delos Santos wrested the decathlon title, and the Philippines has started collecting gold medals in athletics on Friday at the Supachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok.
Tolentino, a 2024 Olympian, checked in at 13.66 seconds to gain the distinction as the first gold medalist of the Philippines in athletics in the 33rd SEA Games.
Delos Santos, meanwhile, compiled 6,917 points from the 10 events, beating Suttisak Singkhon of Thailand (6,649) and Idan Fauzan Richsan of Indonesia (6,582) for the top spot at the podium.
Bothered by injuries most notably during the 2024 Olympics, the 24-year-old Cabang Tolentino is a lot healthier now to pick up his first SEA Games gold medal of his career, with a target on competing in the Asian Indoor Championships and World Indoor Championships next year.
Delos Santos, 23, already has a silver in his resume in the 2021 SEA Games when he placed second behind EJ Obiena in pole vault.
But Delos Santos has been making waves in the decathlon, recently bagging the UAAP MVP in the athletics competition for University of Santo Tomas in the same event.
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