Angel Otom bolstered her bid of a podium finish at the 2024 Paris Paralympics after qualifying to the finals of the women’s 50-meter butterfly S5 on Friday, Sept. 6, at the Paris La Defense Arena.

The armless wonder from Olongapo City made a splash and timed 46.85 seconds to finish third in her heat and fifth overall to advance to the medal round.

It was better than her last year’s world championships mark of 47.52sec.

As expected, Chinese sensation Lu Dong led the qualifiers with 40.50sec, followed by teammate He Shenggao (43.11sec) and Turkey’s Sevilay Ozturk (44.70sec).

Also competing for the medals are China’s Cheng Jiao (46.01sec), Italy’s Giulia Ghiretti (47.81sec), Brazil’s Esthefany Rodrigues (49.32sec), and Turkey’s Sumeyye Boyaci (51.87sec).