PH heptathlon queen Dequinan gears up for SEA Games medal bid

ISABELA, Philippines – The “Iron Lady” Sarah Dequinan once again proved her mettle as she stays on track to become the most bemedalled athlete in the Philippine Athletics Championships at the Ilagan Sports Complex. 

Dequinan dominated in two individual events, ruling the heptathlon with 5,220 points, and the long jump with a distance of 5.79 meters. 

The 26-year-old also won a silver medal in the javelin with a throw of 42.41m, coming in second to newly reinstated national athlete Evalyn Palabrica (45.92m) in a highly competitive event.

Dequinan participated in the individual events to address her weaknesses in the heptathlon, her pet event. 

“Hepta po kasi ang main event ko. Eto po kasi parang enjoyment na lang po, dagdag sa training, so alam ko po yung weakness ko so kailangan ko siyang trabahuin pa po,” she said.

(Heptathlon is my main event. The other events are like for enjoyment for me, to help in my training, so that I’ll know what weakness I need to work on.”

The University of Santo Tomas alumna is one of the most promising athletes as she already set the national record in the heptathlon with a score of 5,381 points during her silver-medal run in last year’s Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam. 

But Dequinan said she needs to improve her technique in hurdles and shot put, which she considers her weaknesses, heading into the regional games in Cambodia this May. 

“Kailangan pa po mag-improve lalo na po sa technique sa hurdles. Ang shot put yung weakness ko po. Kailangan ko pa talaga i-replenish, kailangan ko pa talaga pag trabahuan,” said the Valencia, Bukidnon native.

(I need to improve my techniques, especially in the hurdles. Shot put is my weakness. I need to replenish, I really must work harder.)

Despite her efforts, Dequinan still feels that she is not fully prepared for the upcoming SEA Games due to her own fears. 

“So today po parang tinitignan ko kung ano yung mga kulang ko pa. So, I try my best na parang ni-rereview ko pa yung sarili ko today [at] kung ano pa yung kailangan ko pang i-improve sa training,” she explained.

(Today, I was checking what I still need to work on. So, I try my best to review my performance and what I need to improve in training.)

In other events, Kayla Richardson won the 200m sprint with a time of 24.10 seconds. 

She will also compete in the 100m against Olympian Kristina Knott on Saturday, March 25, aiming to defend her title as the fastest woman in the upcoming SEA Games. 

Meanwhile, national athlete John Albert Mantua won gold in the discus throw (48.83m) and silver in shot put (16.93m), where he fell short again Malaysian Jonah Chang Anak Rigan (17.43m),

Umajesty Williams, the gold medalist in the 400m sprint, settled for the 200m silver (21.40s) behind Taha Hussein Yaseen of Iraq (21.20s). 

Williams said he felt hurt in his right hamstring in the race he narrowly lost.

– Rappler.com