Bernalyn Bejoy and William Morrison III grabbed gold medals in the Korea Athletics Open in Yecheon, South Korea on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Bejoy ran the women’s 800-meters in two minutes and 8.44 seconds, two seconds off her personal best she did in the Asian Championships in Gumi.
Local bet Lee Seobin was second in 2:11.46 and Salina Hillier of Japan settled for third in 2:15.64.
The 28-year-old Morrison heaved the metal ball 18.80 meters on his first attempt in men’s shotput to earn the Philippines’ other gold.
China’s Xia Guoyan and local standout Kim Gunju were in second and third, with their throws of 18.55 and 17.59 meters, respectively.
Meanwhile, David Matibag took the silver medal when he set a personal best of 1:50.42 in the men’s 800 meters, won by Japan’s Mikuto Kaneko at 1:46.77.
The victories of Bejoy and Morrison, along with Matibag’s silver, more than made up for the false starts of Kristina Knott in the women’s 100- and 200-meter finals.
Over at the Taiwan Open at the Taipei Municipal Stadium in Taipei City, Dhem Monton settled for the bronze at 3:52.03, in the men’s 1500 meters.
Monton was ahead of fourth placer Alfrence Braza (3:53.05), with Australian Archie Ridgeway topping the race in 3:46.28.
Kharis Pantonial broke the Philippine national U20 record when he clocked 47.33 seconds for fifth place in the men’s 400-meter finals.
Coached by Isidro del Prado, Pantonial surpassed Ralph Soguilon’s 48.81-second feat back in 1983, in the finals won by Korean Min Kyu Sin (46.06).