CAPAS, Tarlac — Frustrated with her performance at the 22nd Asian U20 Athletics Championships two weeks ago, national team race walker Sep Placido made it a point to bounce back at the Philippine Athletics Championships at the New Clark City Stadium here.
Bounce back, Placido did.
Finishing seventh and last at the said 5000m Asian tiff, Placido ranked first here in the nationals in the same distance with 25:31.19 -- a new U20 national record -- on Wednesday evening.
Placido topped a 42-year-old record of 26:48.3 set by Rosalie Quinto-Demigo on May 30, 1984.
"Coming from Hong Kong U20 Asian Championships, I wasn't satisfied with my performance that's why I made it a point to prove something here," said Placido.
"I really wanted to show a good performance this Philippine Open," added the 18-year-old from University of the East.
Placido thus won three titles in a row from 2024 albeit the title she won last year was a 10,000m one which she also set a new U20 record of 57:55.90.
With this National Open under her belt, Placido said she's targeting to qualify for the U20 World Championships in Oregon, United States this August.
"Right now, we're looking for 5K events that we could join to help us qualify for the U20 World Championships ," said Placido.
"My coach and I believe that we just need one more event to compete at to qualify for the Worlds."
