Cometa hauled three more gold medals yesterday to become the most bemedalled athlete of the Games while smashing every record in all the events she participated in at the San Luis RECS Village here.
But Cometa’s spectacular performance was not without drama as she needed to recover from a bad fall in the final lap of the girls’ 4x400-m relay before capturing her fifth gold for the Laguna team which promised her P5,000 for every gold medal she won.
The 12-year-old lass from Liliw was dragged to the ground by a collapsing Anna Mae Cantor of Camarines Sur but quickly got back on track and unleashed one final burst of strength to overtake her foe in the first 250 meters of the last lap.
Cometa’s provincemate jumped in jubilation after she reached the tape, clocking 4:26.5 which eclipsed the old mark of 4:39 tallied by La Union in 1999. Her teammates were Jasmin Chavez, a triple gold medalist herself with earlier wins in the 4x100-m relay and the 50-m dash, Mary Ann Delos Reyes and Mary Ann Bautista.
Cometa, a self-confessed fan of track superstar Lydia "Diay" De Vega-Mercado, said later after the race that she was not even shaken by the fall.
"Wala akong naramdaman, ang inisip ko lang manalo," said Cometa.
A day after crowning herself queen of the tracks by completing a sweep in the 100-m and 200-m races, the frail-looking Cometa started the day with a gold medal win in the 400-m run where she clocked 1:02.4, almost four seconds below the old standard of 1:06.3 by Negros Occidental’s Lorry Gen Ladonce.
After a brief rest, Cometa went back to work to power the host team to the 4x100-m gold with a time of 54.6, breaking the old standard of 57.3 owned by Camarines Sur.
The Philippine Sports Commission promised Cometa a scholarship grant. She was also invited by the PATAFA to join the national training pool.
Meanwhile, Dennis Cordero, the swimming tournament director, recommended that swimmers Erian Jilharah of Tawi-Tawi and Darel Pasion of Cebu, under investigation for alleged age cheating, be allowed to keep their gold medals but their results would not be included in the Games record books. Esa Linsag of Davao Oriental, on the other hand, was cleared of eligibility violations by Cordero.
Four more tankers joined Manila’s Lambert Guiriba to the elite triple gold medal winners’ circle. Malabon’s Ronald Papa, younger brother of former Olympian Ryan, made waves by winning two gold medals in the boys’ 11-12 200-m individual medley and the 100-m backstroke, two days after clinching his first gold in the 200-m freestyle.
Another Big City bet, Bea Del Mundo, captured her third gold after topping the girls’ 7-8 100-m backstroke to add to her two triumphs in the 50-m and 100-m freestyle events while Enrico Jose of Albay completed late the other day a three-gold sweep of the 9-10 200-m individual medley and the 50-m and 100-m breaststroke.
Also emerging as the fifth triple gold medalist in swimming was Allyester Kennedy of Muntinlupa.