Filipino athletes delivered strong performances in athletics at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, securing multiple medals across track and field events on Saturday, December 13. Yacine Guermali earned silver in the men’s 5000m after clocking 14:47.33, finishing just behind Thailand’s Kieran Tuntivate, who won gold with 14:46.38. Fellow Filipino Sonny Wagdos claimed bronze with a personal-best 14:48.01.

Guermali expressed satisfaction with the results despite the narrow miss for gold. “It’s amazing. I feel like as the race developed, we were still towards the front of the race. So I had a feeling that we would both be in the medal contention. So it’s nice to have two medals in one event for the Philippines,” he said. Both Guermali and Wagdos will return to action in the men’s 10,000m race on Tuesday.

Podium finishes in women’s events

In the women’s 5000m, Joina Gagnao claimed bronze with a time of 17:09.87, finishing behind Vietnam’s Thi Oanh Nguyen (gold) and Thi Tuyet Nguyen (silver). Nelson Zion Rose added another medal for the Philippines by securing bronze in the women’s 200m with 23.50 seconds, just 0.45 seconds behind Singapore’s Veronica Shanti Pereira, who took gold. Vietnam’s Le Thi Cam Tu won silver in the event.

Ana Bhianca Espenilla also delivered a personal-best effort in the women’s javelin throw, securing bronze with a 51.66-meter throw. Thailand’s Jariya Wichaidit captured gold with 55.64m, while Malaysia’s Jing Xuan Ng took silver with 52.17m.

Men’s field events and relays

In the men’s shot put, William Morrison III settled for bronze with a throw of 16.66m. Malaysia’s Jonah Chang Rigan broke the SEA Games record with 18.78m to take gold, surpassing Morrison’s 18.14m mark set in the 2021 edition. Thailand’s Thongchai Silamool claimed silver with 16.80m.

The Philippine 4x400m relay team of Alfred Talplacido, Angel Watson, Alhryan Labita, and Bernalyn Bejoy rounded out the athletics medal haul with bronze. Vietnam captured gold in the event, while host Thailand finished second.