Precious Cabuya treasures SEAG gold medal, but says it was tough to face compatriot Kaizen dela Serna

PHNOM PENH — Precious Cabuya needed a little time to process her emotions after winning her maiden SEA Games gold medal over compatriot Kaizen dela Serna in their all-FIlipino finals duel of the obstacle course race (OCR) event in the ongoing 32nd SEA Games here.

Cabuya clocked in 32.78 seconds to rule the women's individual event while dela Serna registered 35.52 to settle for silver.

JUST IN: Precious Cabuya wins the gold medal of the women’s individual event of obstacle race with 32.73-second finish. @gmasportsph @gmanews pic.twitter.com/zeUgyBlfPg

— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) May 6, 2023

When interviewed following her win, Cabuya said the fact that she bagged the gold had not quite sunk in yet.

"Nung una hindi ko pa siya ma-feel na nasa SEA Games na ako, parang normal na competition lang sa Pilipinas. Ngayon lang siya nag-sink in sa mind ko na ito nasa SEA Games na ako, nanalo ng gold, at nakapagbigay ng gold sa ating bansa," Cabuya told the reporters in Saturday.

("At first, it didn't feel like I was at the SEA Games, it was just like a normal competition in the Philippines. It's just sinking in now in my head that this is the SEA Games, I won the gold, and I've given our country a gold.")

Cabuya admitted that both she and dela Serna had some mixed feelings about facing each other in the finals, similar to the men's division, which also saw a clash between two Filipinos in Mark Julius Rodelas and Kevin Pascua.

Nonetheless, both players were proud to give the Philippines two medals in one event.

"Mahirap sa amin kasi magka-team kami tapos kami 'yung maglalaban sa finals. Pareho po kaming kinakabahan pero sabi namin kaya namin 'to. Silver or gold, panalo pa rin kami."

("It's hard to be teammates and be facing each other in the finals. We were both nervous but we said we could do it. Silver or gold, we still win.")

—JMB, GMA Integrated News