FILIPINO-AMERICAN Kristina Knott ran a 100-meter race in a modestly quick 11.27 seconds that was good enough for a silver medal behind an American rival at the Drake Blue Oval Showcase at the Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday.
But that burst of speed was more than enough for the 24-year-old Knott to break the 33-year-old Southeast Asian Games record of 11.28 seconds Lydia de Vega set when the former Asian Sprint Queen was 23 in Jakarta.
Knott finished behind 23-year-old Kayla White, who clocked 11.18 seconds. Tianna Bartoletta, 35, bagged the bronze medal with 11.44 seconds.
The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association announced Knott’s record-breaking run in social media and noted that the 30th Southeast Asian Games sprint champion is well on track to qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics next year.
Knott needs to run the Olympic standard of 11.15 seconds to make the grade in Tokyo.
Also the record-holder at 23.01 seconds in the SEA Games—she broke also De Vega’s standard last December at the New Clark City—Knott has a lot of time to get achieve her goal with qualifiers set to end in May 2021.
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena is one of four Filipinos who have qualified for the Olympics so far. The others are boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno and world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo.
Besides Knott, Patafa’s other athletes hoping to qualify for Tokyo include sprinter Eric Cray, thrower William Morrison, marathoner Christine Hallasgo and pole vaulter Natalie Uy.
Health protocols were imposed in the Drake event with athletes running one lane apart of each other.