Christmas comes early to Sheila Mae

Ten days before she turns 20, Sheila Mae Perez won her third gold in the 23rd SEA Games.

In the process, she has also assured herself, probably her family and some close friends of a happy Christmas.

Under Republic Act 9064, the dimpled diving sensation stands to receive P250,000 in cash incentives from the government. In case she is named Best Athlete, she stands to receive some more.

Under the law, a Filipino gold medalist in individual events get P100,000, silver medalist P50,000 and bronze medalist P10,000. In teams events, those with five or more members will get P200,000 (gold), P100,000 (silver) and P20,000 (bronze). Teams with fewer members will get P100,000, P50,000 and P10,000.

Perez, who has never won the gold in the SEA Games after settling for a silver and a bronze in Vietnam two years ago, collected her third gold of the meet by topping the 1-meter springboard competition.

She won the gold in the individual 3m springboard and 3m synchronized springboard where she teamed up with Ceceil Domenios over the last three days. Diving competition came to a close yesterday at the aquatics center in Los Banos, Laguna.

Willy Wang of wushu has two golds and P200,000 in his pocket after ruling the giangshu spear and jianshu events. He is so far the only Filipino in this SEA Games to win two individual events. – Abac Cordero