Otom finishes Paralympic 50m backstroke bid at 6th

MANILA, Philippines -- Filipina para swimmer Angel Otom started strong but faltered late in the women’s 50m backstroke - S5 final in the Paris Paralympics Wednesday morning (Manila time), finishing sixth in the medal round.

Otom finished with a time of 44 seconds. This is 6.49 seconds behind the gold medalist, China’s Lu Dong.

China was able to sweep the podium. After Lu, He Shenggao brought home the silver medal with 39.93 seconds and Liu Yu came in third with 42.37 seconds.

The 21-year-old Otom started great as she was within striking distance from the leaders.

However, she slowly ran out of steam as the swim went on.

Her time of 44 seconds is almost the same as her tallied time in the heat, where she finished seventh overall.

Otom will be returning in action on Friday, 3:53 p.m. (Manila time).