Shane Joy Ponce, Jessica Rose Laurance, Lianne Diana Pama, and Kristina Marie Knott. POC Media Pool.MANILA — The Philippines’ women’s sprint team captured the silver medal in the 4x60-meter relay at the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China on Sunday.
Buoyed by her bronze-medal finish in the women’s 60-meter dash on Saturday, Laurance teamed up with Shane Joy Ponce, Lianne Diana Pama, and Olympian Kristina Marie Knott to deliver another podium finish for Team Philippines.
The Filipina quartet clocked 29.73 seconds, finishing just milliseconds behind Thailand, which took the gold in 29.46 seconds. Host China settled for bronze with a time of 30.42 seconds.
Backed by Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio, the silver-medal effort raised the country’s tally to three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals.
“It's so different. There's no baton. The exchange zone is three meters versus 30 meters. So, I think that was our only enemy in the race — the zone,” Knott said.
It was double the joy for Laurance.
“It feels great. Honestly, I came here not knowing what to expect. I really just wanted to have fun and see what I could do on sand,” she said. “I’ve never run on sand and I really beat my expectations. So, I'm really happy.”
The country’s strong showing in beach athletics began with Leonard Grospe, who delivered the Philippines’ second gold medal on Friday after topping the men’s high jump at the start of the competition.
Mariel Abuan, meanwhile, fell short of a podium finish in the women’s high jump, placing sixth after clearing 1.60 meters.