Kyla Richardson will shoot for the country’s first sprint double in almost three decades in the 31st Southeast Asian Games scheduled May 12 to 23 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Richardson was given the mantle of responsibility in claiming the mints in the century dash and the 200m run after 2019 SEA Games double-gold medalist Kristina Knott begged off after sustaining a foot injury.
The last Filipina to achieve such momentous feat was Lydia de Vega-Mercado, who did the trick in the 1993 Singapore Games.
“We’re both excited to go and do some good things out there,” said Kyla, referring to her twin sister Kayla who is also seeing action in biennial event. The Richardson siblings will fly to Hanoi from the United States Tuesday.
Richardson clocked 11.31 in the 100 meters and 23.12 in the 200m in the Pacific West Championships in San Diego a week back. Her century dash effort was faster than the 11.54 mark that led to Vietnam’s Le Tu Cinh to clinching the gold and her 200m clocking was a little slower than the gold-sealing time of Knott in the same event.
This early, Richardson looms as one of the favorites in both events since both Knott and Le are out due to injuries.