Macario, PH women’s relay team seize first SEA Games golds

The Philippines opened its 2025 Southeast Asian Games campaign with a strong medal haul on Wednesday, capturing its first two gold medals through taekwondo jin Justin Kobe Macario and the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay team.

Macario delivered the country’s breakthrough gold in the men’s individual freestyle poomsae event after an impressive routine filled with multiple flips and high-difficulty kicks at the Fashion Island Shopping Mall in Bangkok.

He scored 8.200 points to top a field of six competitors, finishing ahead of Thailand’s Koedkaew Atchariya with 8.100 points and Malaysia’s Ken Haw Chin with 7.740 points.

“Nagulat din po ako kanina na ako po yung unang gold ng Pilipinas. Sobrang saya po dahil isang karangalan po makauwi ng ginto for the country,” Macario told POC Media.

The 23-year-old athlete said the victory was the product of long, focused preparation with his coaches Rani Ortega and Jeordan Dominguez.

“Nag-prepare kami ng dalawang coach, si coach Rani [Ortega] and Jeordan [Dominguez] po. Ang focus po namin is ibigay and i-perform kung ano po yung pinag-trainingan namin ng matagal. And si Lord na po yung bahala kung ano yung ibigay niya po sa amin. Sobrang thankful at binigay niya yung ginto sa akin po,” he said.

Macario skipped the parade of nations during the opening ceremony to complete four training sessions, a sacrifice he said was necessary for his performance.

“Kahapon po nag-training kami four times bago sumalang dito and sinacrifice na namin po na hindi pumunta sa opening para makapag-prepare ng maayos po,” he added.

The taekwondo jin previously won silver and bronze in mixed freestyle poomsae in the 2021 and 2023 SEA Games and said winning individually at the regional level felt different.

“Ibang iba din po kasi mostly lahat din ng mga nagpo-podium po sa World Championship, Asian Championship, itong mga SEA Games countries din po,” he said.

Macario is set to compete again in the mixed team freestyle poomsae event later in the day.

PH women’s relay team takes historic win

Hours after Macario’s triumph, the Philippine women’s 4x100m freestyle relay squad secured the country’s second gold medal — and its first-ever gold in the event — at the SAT Swimming Pool.

Olympian Kayla Sanchez teamed up with Xiandi Chua, Chloe Isleta, and Heather White to dominate the relay, clocking in at 3:44.26.

Singapore claimed silver at 3:46.53, while Vietnam earned bronze with 3:47.47.

Sanchez, who anchored the relay, said the win was made more meaningful with her family in attendance.

“It’s very special for me and my teammates. My whole family is here. I’m very excited to make the country proud,” she told POC Media.

She added that opening her SEA Games campaign with a team event helped ease first-race nerves.

“My first race was a relay so it wasn’t just me it was a team. They made me less nervous. It was much more fun as a first race to be with a team. I’m still learning. I gave my teammates to teach me and keep me grounded,” she said.

White said the team leaned on their confidence after landing lane 4.

“I think we all went in knowing we kind of had a chance to win especially since being in lane 4. And I think we just carried through that confidence and played like we had nothing to lose,” she said.

Chua called the victory a strong tone-setter for the competitions ahead.

“I think it was such a good start, the start of day one. It sets the momentum especially Gian also won with a silver. I think getting a goal today gets everyone excited and pumped up for the next few weeks,” she said.

Santos adds silver to PH tally

Earlier in the day, swimmer Gian Santos captured silver in the men’s 200m individual medley, finishing with a time of 2:03.88 behind Vietnam’s Hung Nguyen Tran, who clocked 2:02.11.

“It definitely means a lot to me. This being my first SEA Games and also first event of SEA Games my first medal, I’m very grateful. I put a lot of hard work into this… I’m glad my hard work has paid off,” Santos said.

He said he aims to win more medals in the coming days while trusting his performance to guide the outcome.

The Philippines ended the opening day with 13 medals overall, marking a strong start to its 33rd SEA Games campaign in Bangkok.