SEA Games: Christopher Ulboc breaks through with 3000-m steeplechase gold

The last man standing for Philippine athletics delivered on Independence Day, retaining his 3,000-meter steeplechase gold medal at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

Christopher Ulboc raced past Vietnam's Tien San Pham in the final 200 meters to get the fifth gold medal for the athletics squad in the bienniel meet.

The 24-year-old finished with a personal-best time of eight minutes and 59.07 seconds, while Tien came in at at 8:59:90 for the silver.

“Medyo kinabahan din po, pero duon sa last 200 meters alam kong malalampasan ko ang Vietnamese,” said the pride of Pagadian City, Davao del Sur. “Eto ay para sa bayan sa araw ng ating kalayaan.”

The rest of the Filipino entries, however, could do no better than the bronze medal.

Filipino-American Donovan Arriola debuted with a 7.51-meter leap for a podium finish.

Edgar Alejan, meanwhile, copped bronze in the men's 400-meter run, as did Narcisa Atienza in the women’s heptathlon (2:34.18).

The Filipinos fell one gold short of the medal total of the athletics team in the 2013 Myanmar SEA Games. --JST, GMA News