PADS para dragon boat team members proudly show the gold medal they won in the 16th IDBF world dragon boat racing championships in Thailand on Friday, August 11, 2023. | Photo from PADS
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The gold medal drought was finally over for the Philippine Accessible Disability Services, Inc. (PADS) Dragon Boat paddlers after they won two golds on Friday in the ongoing 16th International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Pattaya, Thailand.
PADS struggled to win a single gold medal in the past four days but compensated with two smashing victories on Friday in their favorite shorter distances.
So far, the Filipinos have two gold medals, three silvers, and seven bronzes, which is still a bit short of their 2019 four-gold medal haul.
However, they still have several events lined up in the last two days of the event this weekend.
On Friday, they ruled the small boat 500-meter para dragon mixed categories 1 and 2.
In the small boat 500m para dragon mixed 1 category, PADS redeemed themselves against Canada in a thrilling photo finish to win the gold medal.
They crossed the finish line in two minutes and 22.085 seconds, while the Canadians trailed them in 2:22.695 for the silver medal. PADS’ second team finished with a bronze medal by clocking in 2:30.757
Also, PADS edged Canada in the small boat 500m para dragon mixed 2 category.
This time they were ahead in 2:16.195 for the gold, while the Canadians finished second in 2:19.055 for silver, followed by India in 2:19.808 for bronze, and PADS’ second team at fourth in 2:25.820.
It was a sweet comeback for PADS against the Canadians after they settled for a heartbreaking silver medal finish on August 9 despite reaching the finish line first. But race organizers slapped the Pinoys with a time penalty in the 2,000-meter small boat para-dragon mixed category for allegedly hitting a buoy.
Meanwhile, the Canadians are poised to finish way ahead of the competition after amassing 25 gold medals, 14 silvers, and six bronzes.
The United States is a far second with a, 12-23-6 (gold-silver-bronze) tally, while China has a 10-7-4 harvest good for third. /rcg
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