NEW CLARK CITY - Tu Chnh Le spoiled the party for Kristina Knott as the Vietnam runner emerged the fastest woman in the 30th Southeast Asian Games on Sunday.
Le beat the highly-favored Fil-Am in the century dash by beating Knott by .01 seconds in the centerpiece event of athletics.
The Vietnamese clocked 11.55 to Knott's 11.54.
Knott, 24, was naturally disappointed in failing to score a double gold in sprint in the wake of her smashing victory in the 200-m sprint.
She later admitted being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the biennial meet.
“Nerve got the best of me,” said Knott. “My leg is all numb.”
“(But) it’s OK. She (Le) did a good race.”
Pereira Veronica Shanti clinched the bronze medal (11.66) of the highly-anticipated race which saw Knott stumbling on the track just moments when she breasted the tape.
Legendary Elma Muros-Posadas still remains as the last Filipina runner to complete a sweep of both the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter sprints of the SEA Games, doing the feat during the 1995 meet in Chang Mai, Thailand.
Zion Rose Nelson, the other Philippine entry in the race, finished last at seventh place with a time of 11.60 seconds.
In the men's event, Anfernee Lopena could only placed fifth by clocking 10.61 seconds as the lone Filipino runner following the disqualification of former gold medal winner Eric Cray.
The race was won by Muhammad Haidal Hanafi of Malaysia with a time of 10.35 seconds, while the Thai pair of Sowan Ruttanapon (10.49) and Chuangchai Bandit (10.52), bagged the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
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