- SEAG-Cross country race
Dinh Thi Nhu Quynh of Vietnam captured the gold medal in the 30th Southeast Asian Games women’s elite cross country Olympic event on Sunday in Laurel, Batangas.
Dinh, 19, clocked one hour, 36 minutes, and 43 seconds in leading a Vietnamese 1-2 finish. Ca Thi Thom bagged the silver medal with a time of 1:44:19 while Avegail Rombaon of the Philippines settled for the bronze in 1:48:54.
Top Filipina bet Ariana Dormitorio showed the way early in the race, taking a one minute lead but suffered a crash that dashed her hopes for the gold.
“We tried to follow the best rider. We know that in these Games, the Filipino rider is very strong. In the first lap, we tried to follow and then we tried to attack. The course is a difficult one,” said Vietnam coach Ngoc Vu Nguyen.
Dormitorio felt dizzy after the crash and failed to finish, to the disappointment of fans who had expected her to win and deliver the first gold for the Philippines in cycling.
“During the last part of the trail, I had a crash and then that caused me to be a little bit dizzy. Knowing that the other competitors were just at my back, I didn’t really had time to recover. I was really eager to win the gold but I’d like to say my apologies for the whole country for not winning it for you guys,” said Dormitorio.
“This is my first SEA Games. For the succeeding ones, there will be mountain bike events. I’ll definitely train harder and bring pride to the country,” Dormitorio added.PR
