Para wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan’s heat struggles apparently spilled over into the finals of men’s 400-meter T52 race while para-archer Agustina bowed out early in the 17th Paralympic Games in Paris, France.
The Kalinga para wheel chair racer Mangliwan finished eighth and last in the men’s 400-meter T52 race in a sub-par time of one minute and .04.55 seconds
After placing seventh out eight qualifiers with an underwhelming time of 1:05.79 in
rainy conditions in the heats, Mangliwan got off to a sluggish start anew and improved just slightly in timing 1:04.55 in the race handily won by reigning Belgian world champion Maxime Carabine in 55.10 seconds.
The charismatic Carabine easily relegated Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Sato Tomoki to silver (56.26) while compatriot Ito Tomoya took the bronze (1:01.08) in front of an animated crowd at the 75,000-seat arena.
At the Les Invalides shooting range, para archer Bantiloc bowed out of contention, losing to Brazil’s Jane Karla Gogel 143-127 (25-29, 28-29, 24-29, 27-29, 23-27) in the opening knockout round of the women’s individual compound event in the stint backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.
“Hindi namin maintindihan yung super bagal niya sa first 150 meters. Dun lang sa last 250 meters bumawi at muntik na niyang naabutan yung nag-seventh place,” noted national para athletic head coach Joel Deriada over the lacklustre takeoff of the athlete.
“Si Joel na rin ang nag-sabi sa amin na parang mabigat yung umpisa niya. He offered no excuses,” Deriada added. “Alam niya na may maibbubuga pa siya pero hindi nangyari yun.
“Kasi sa practice nakapag-clock na siya ng 1:02 and 1:03 so talagang naging mabagal ang naging performance niya ngayon.”
The gold medalist in the same event in last year’s Hangzhou Asian Para Games, Mangliwan has a personal best time of 1:01.35.
If there was any consolation, Deriada said, was the fact that the athlete still finished in the finals, unlike three years ago in the Tokyyo edition when he was disqualified in the same race for crossing the wrong lane close to the finish line.
Mangliwan still has one event left in the men’s 100-meter T52 race, whose heats will be held on Sept. 5 and the finals the following day.
Although acknowledging it was not his forte, wheelchair racer Jerrold Mangliwan vowed to give it his all and reach the finals of the men’s 100-meter T52 finals in the 17th Paris Paralympic Games track and field meet at the La Stade Arena here Thursday.
“Hindi po talaga yan ang forte ko, pero ang basic target po namin nila coaches Joel (Deriada) and Bernard (Buen) maka-qualify sa finals,” said Mangliwan on the eve of his event scheduled at 9:01 p.m. Thursday (3:01 p.m. Friday in Manila) and the finals at 11:32 a.m. (5:32 p.m.) the next day.
He, however, booked a personal best of 18.65 seconds in bagging the silver medal in the same event in last year’s Hangzhou Asian Para Games, a marked improvement over his time of 20.08 seconds in placing eighth in the finals in the Tokyo edition of the elite meet three years ago.
“We realize that Jerrold is the underdog in this event so our first goal is to qualify first to the finals then think of our next game plan later,” Deriada said, adding that they were better prepared in case it rains in the heats and finals.
Expecting sunny conditions, the Tabuk, Kalinga pride was stymied by the downpour in the heats and finals of the men’s 400-meter T52 race last week, eventually winding up eighth among the finalists last week.
“Ayaw ko pong mag-dahilan, pero talagang nahirapan po kami sa ulan pero naging madulas yung push ring kaya naging mahirap mag-propel ng wheelchair. Hindi naging maganda yung contact,” he explained.
Nonetheless, the national team skipper, appearing in his third straight Paralympic Games, was determined to go the extra mile in making his country proud in the stint supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
“Eto na ang huling event ko dito sa Paris kaya dapat lang na pagbutihin ko alang alang sa karangalan ng ating bansa,” Mangwilan said. NLMonitor
