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Kristina Knott breaks sprint legend Lydia De Vega-Mercado's 33-year-old PH record

Sports

Kristina Knott breaks sprint legend Lydia De Vega-Mercado's 33-year-old PH record

By Kristel Satumbaga-Villar

Kristina Knott — Fil-American sprinter Kristina Knott breaks Lydia De Vega-Mercado’s 33-year-old national record in the 100-meter dash. (REUTERS / Athit Perawongmetha)

Fil-American sprinter Kristina Knott smashed Lydia De Vega-Mercado’s 33-year-old national record in the 100-meter dash after settling for the silver medal at the Drake Blue Oval Meet in Iowa over the weekend.

Knott clocked 11.27 seconds (+1.5 m/s) to eclipse De Vega-Mercado’s long-standing PH and Southeast Asian Games mark of 11.28sec posted at the 1987 Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia – a record that was set eight years before she was born.

The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) recognized Knott’s achievement in a congratulatory post on its Facebook account.

"KK (Knott) breaks sprint legend Lydia De Vega-Mercado's 33-year 100m record with an 11.27s performance, coming in second at the Drake Blue Oval Showcase's 100m event. Congratulations KK!" the post read, accompanied by Knott's photo.

Pinoy Athletics first reported Knott’s feat, where athletes ran one lane apart due to health restrictions in this time of pandemic. The 24-year-old settled behind eventual winner Kayla White, who posted a season best of 11.18sec.

Knott’s achievement also inched her closer to reaching the qualifying standard to next year’s Tokyo Olympics of 11.15sec while also surpassing her silver-medal finish of 11.55sec at the 2019 SEA Games.

She is also a SEA Games record holder in 200m.

Related Tags

Kristina Knott Lydia De Vega-Mercado Drake Blue Oval Meet athletics Tokyo Olympics

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