HANOI—Eric Cray’s 33 and still winning as he annexed a seventh career gold medal by ruling the men’s 400 meters hurdles in the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the My Dinh National Stadium on Tuesday.
Cray, dismissed as a has-been for failing to qualify for last year’s Tokyo Olympics because of an injury, clocked 50.41 seconds to clinch his fifth straight 400m hurdles’ SEA Games gold medal.
He has won the since 2013 in Myanmar.
“Man, it’s a blessing, I thank God for this, I feel that I still got one more left in me,” said Cray, who had to endure hamstring issues in these games.
Cray’s time fell short of the 50.21 he did in the Philippine 2019 SEA, but it was enough to foil the challenge of hometown favorite Cong Lich Quach, who finished with 50.82.
Singapore’s Jun Jie Calvin Quek bagged the bronze with 51.19. The Fil-American Cray holds the
SEA Games record of 49.40.
The other Filipino hurdler, Francis Medina, was fifth with 51.77, just behind Vietnam’s Duc Son Nguyen’s 51.40.
Cray, the 2017 Asian champion, is expected to suit up in the 100 meters on Wednesday to shoot for a personal eighth gold. He was the sprint king of the Singapore 2015 Games.
“That would be intense, so I will try to rest up tonight,” added Cray, who was also part of the 2019 4×100 mixed relay champion team during the 2019 edition.
Cray’s feat was the fourth gold for Philippine athletics in the biennial meet—Ernest John Obiena booked a record-smashing performance in pole vault, William Morrison triumphed in shotput triumph Clinton Kingsley Bautista set a national record of 13.78 seconds in the 110m hurdles that broke his own three-year-old 13.97 mark.
Morrison, meanwhile, settled for the bronze with 50.44 meters in men’s discus throw ruled by reigning champion Irfan Bin Shamshuddin of Malaysia also on Tuesday.