Marathoner Mary Joy Tabal got first gold for PH at Sea Games 2017.
SEA GAMES – The marathon athlete Mary Joy Tabal snatches the first-ever gold medal for the Philippines at 2017 Southeast Asian Games held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
TABAL WINS GOLD! #SEAGames2017 @ABSCBNNews @abscbnsports pic.twitter.com/ztbhlDTJzb
— Dyan Castillejo (@DYANCASTILLEJO) August 19, 2017
According to the report of the Rappler, Mary Joy Tabal was victorious after fighting off against competitors as she got the gold medal.
Her marathon for the first gold medal for the Philippines was at this year’s Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia during the day of the official tip-off of the games, Saturday, August 19.
2:48:26 is the official time of Tabal which is accordingly ahead by seven minutes of Hoang Thi Thanh from Vietnam and “just short of 10 minutes ahead of Natthaya Thanaronnawat, the 2015 gold medalist from Thailand who finished ahead of Tabal in Singapore.”
Tabal, prior to this, trained at the Tuscany in Italy with a side camp which is at Switzerland.
Through out her career, her personal best was 2:43:31 at the Ottawa Marathon in 2016. This is her record that led her to be qualified for the Rio Olympics.
On 2015 SEA Games, she got the silver medal with time 3:04:39 and remarked a 3:02:27 time at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
There was also she came to a point of not being included at Sea Games for the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) officials indicated displeasure of her for not having her training at Manila or Baguio “with an approved national team coach.”
And just got back to the field when she compromised to have Rene Herrera as her official coach together with John Philip Dueñas, her long-time coach.
As per the report, the Philippines now holds four medals: one silver in Sepak Takraw and other two bronzes in the event of archery.
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