Richardson rips 400m mark in US meet

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am sprinter Kayla Richardson surpassed the Philippine record in the 400m run, clocking 54.06 seconds in the 2017 Battle on the Bayou in Louisiana recently.

Her feat, which erased the 54.18 set by Fil-Canadian Zion Corrales-Nelson three years ago in Langley, Canada, could line her up for a crack at another gold in the 100m dash in this year’s SEA Games in Malaysia. But she failed to show up in the National Open in Ilagan City, Isabela recently and lost her spot in the national team.

Richardson, who won the 100m gold and 200m silver in the SEAG in Singapore, also broke the SEAG bronze medal standard of 54.26 by Malaysian Shereen Samson Vallabouy in Singapore.

Vietnamese Nguyen Thi Huyen and Quach Thi Lan took the gold and silver with times of 52.00 and 52.52, respectively.

“She wasn’t in the National Open although she (Richardson) and her father-coach (Jeffrey) were aware at the start of the importance of the event, that being a requirement for SEAG,” said athletics president Philip Ella Juico. “Congratulations if it’s true, we wish her luck. We’re pre-occupied with so many concerns and focused on SEAG and it’ll take time to discuss this. 

“Her handlers and advisers who should’ve known better probably gave them wrong advice on our resolve in carrying out this rule,” he added.

In a story written by track and field statistician and coach Andrew Pirie at pinoyathletics.info, the elder Richardson expressed hopes that Juico would change his mind.

“She (Kayla) is in very good shape. And I believe she can run sub-54 seconds by next week. The plan is to keep her running 400m early, she won’t run a 100m until June in the Phl. I think it’s for a good cause, it will build her stamina and endurance and keep her eager and fresh to improve her 100m time,” the elder Richardson told pinoyathletics.info.