Knott breaks Lydia’s century dash record

MANILA, Philippines — For 33 years, former Asia’s sprint queen Lydia de Vega-Mercado’s 100-meter dash record in the Southeast Asian Games and the Philippines stood like a rock. Fil-Am Kristina Knott crushed it yesterday.

Delivering a performance to remember, Knott eclipsed the country’s seemingly indestructible century dash record that was set long before she was born, clocking 11.27 seconds for a silver-medal finish in the Drake Blue Oval Showdown Meet in Des Moines, Iowa.

Knott’s astonishing feat shattered the 11.28 mark set by De Vega-Mercado in the 1987 Jakarta SEAG.

Knott, a 2019 SEAG double-gold medal winner, is now the record holder in the century dash and in 200m. The Fil-Am bet set 23.01 in a gold-medal effort in 200m at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, last year.

Knott’s coach, Rohsaan Griffin said the effort was expected.

“I knew she was ready to run fast. She ran 16.8 in a 150 last week and knew she was ready,” said Griffin, who has been helping Knott for two years now, in an interview with Pinoy Athletics.

“I had prepped her for the 200m but we will take a national record and PB (personal best) any day when you are ready to run fast,” he added.

And it looks like she is getting better by the day.

While the meet wasn’t a Tokyo qualifying race, Knott’s time came close to meeting the Olympic standard time of 11.15.

Athletics chief Philip Ella Juico is confident Knott can make the Olympics.

“(With) the single-minded determination of Kristina, the forthcoming additional support of the PSC, and PATAFA’s willingness to invest in all its athletes and coaches, she may get a berth in both events,” said Juico.