MANILA, Philippines – Kayla Richardson reclaimed her throne as the Southeast Asian Games sprint queen after reigning in the women’s 100m at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam on Wednesay, May 18.

Richardson clocked 11.60 seconds to edge Singapore’s Veronica Shanti Pereira (11.62) and recapture the women’s 100m gold she first won in the 2015 SEA Games.

Thailand’s Supanich Poolkerd clinched bronze with a time of 11.66.

“I’m so grateful. It took me a lot to get here. I thank God for getting me here,” said Richardson, whose victory made up for the absence of teammate Kristina Knott.

Knott shone in the 2019 SEA Games after bagging golds in the women’s 200m and mixed 4x100m relay, but did not join the Filipino delegation in this edition after sustaining a foot injury.

Richardson became the first Filipina to win an athletics gold in Vietnam as EJ Obiena (pole vault), Eric Cray (400m hurdles), William Morrison (shot put), and Clinton Bautista (110m hurdles) delivered the first four golds.

The Filipina-American redeemed herself against Pereira, who beat her and twin sister Kyla for the gold in the women’s 200m.

Kyla and Kayla settled for silver and bronze in the women’s 200m, respectively. – Rappler.com