Brown strikes hurdles gold in Asian Athletics Championships

BANGKOK — Robyn Lauren Brown ended the Philippines’ medal drought with a gold medal in the women’s 400-meter hurdles of the 25th Asian Athletics Championships at the Supachalasai National Stadium here Saturday.

Brown, 28, bested her two closest foes halfway in the last 200 meters to end up first with a time of 57.50 seconds. She was followed by Japan’s Eri Utsunomiya at 57.73 seconds and Ami Yamamoto at 57.80 seconds.

“I just wanted to do my best honestly after all those disappointments in the last three SEA Games. My intention is to just finish strong,” Brown said, referring to her Southeast Asian Games silver medal finish in Cambodia, and bronze both in Hanoi (2022) and the Philippines (2019). 

It was indeed redemption time for Brown, who also ended up winning her first gold medal in an Asian-level competition. 

The Filipino-American is the current national record holder of 56.44 seconds in the last biennial meet. Despite winning the gold medal, Brown was still three seconds behind the Olympic standard mark of 54.85. She is hoping to get it sooner or even up to the last day of the Paris Olympic qualifiers on June 30, 2024.

Meanwhile, six-time SEA Games gold medalist Eric Cray couldn’t sustain his strong start, falling to sixth place in the men’s 400-m hurdles with a time of 49.76 seconds. 

Qatar’s Bassem Mohamed Hameida won the gold medal with a result of 48.64 seconds to seal an Olympic berth, Japanese Yusaku Kodama (48.96 seconds) grabbed the silver, and India’s Santhosh Tamilarasan (49.09 seconds) earned the bronze. 

The campaign of the 21-man Philippine athletics team, headed by Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) president Terry Capistrano, was backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, with CEL Logistics as sponsor.