Justin Kobe Macario snags PH's first SEA Games gold in poomsae

Justin Kobe Macario secured the Philippines' first gold medal at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, excelling in the men's individual freestyle poomsae competition.

Macario's routine earned him a score of 8.200 points, narrowly defeating Thailand's Koedkaew Atchariya (8.100 points) and Malaysia's Ken Haw Chin (7.740 points).

Despite his victory, Macario admitted to initially feeling nervous due to it being his first individual SEA Games event.

He expressed immense joy and pride in being the country's first gold medalist in the biennial meet.

The women's 4x100m freestyle relay team, composed of Kayla Sanchez, Chloe Isleta, Xiandi Chua, and Heather White, secured the second gold medal for the Philippines.

John Derick Farr captured the Philippines' first medal in the biennial meet, a bronze in the mountain bike downhill event.

Swimmer Gian Santos settled for silver in the men's 200m individual medley.

Taekwondo contributed more medals with silver finishes in the men's recognized poomsae trio (Rodolfo Reyes, King Nash Alcairo, and Ian Corton) and bronze medals in recognized pair poomsae (Patrick Perez and Jocel Ninobla) and mixed freestyle poomsae (Macario, Jeus Yape, Darius Venerable, and Janna Oliva).

The Philippine sepak takraw teams secured bronze medals in both the men's and women's hoop events.