National team mainstay Leonard Grospe eclipsed a 17-year-old national record in high jump in the PSC-Philippine National Games during the morning sessions at the Philsports Track Oval in Pasig City.
The 22-year-old Grospe cleared 2.20 meters to surpass the old record of 2.17 meters, which his coach Sean Guevara set during the National Open in Manila in 2005.
This was better than the fifth-place, 2.13-m performance Grospe made in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia last May.
Mandaluyong City’s Ernie Calipay finished at far second with 2.06m, while fellow PH athlete Janry Ubas took home the bronze with 1.90m.
Meanwhile, Jasmine Mojdeh breezed through with her fourth gold medal on Day 4 at the Teofilo Yldefonso Memorial Pool of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
The 16-year-old Mojdeh joined Arvin Taguinato II in becoming two of the winningest tankers in the weeklong meet, which earlier saw young gymnast Karl Jahriel Eldrew Yulo dominate with a seven-gold sweep of the individual events in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics competitions.
Mojdeh, who recently came back from training in the United States, easily took the gold in the 16-17 year old, 200-meter butterfly event in two minutes and 21.8 seconds.
Using a new technique she learned, while in the US, Mojdeh finished by more than eight seconds ahead of Antipolo’s Rio Balbuena, who checked in at 2:29.42, with Renavive Subida of Dasmarinas in third (2:31.31).
“I’m incorporating what I’ve learned, while there during competition,” said Mojdeh, who represents Paranaque as she seeks more two medals in the 100-meter butterfly, and 4×50 meter freestyle relay.
The Qatar-based Taguinota effortlessly snared his fourth gold medal as well, hitting the time pad in 2:21.09 in the 12-under boys backstroke.
Mojdeh’s brother Behrouz, who is also with Paranaque, was nearly 13 seconds behind at 2:34.05 while Rizal’s Arc Valdez settled for third in 2:37.95.
“It was a pretty good condition. Very good,” said Taguinota.
On Wednesday, Yulo emerged as the most dominant athletes of the games in the Boys’ FIG Juniors 14-17 category, when he swept all the individual events in the vault, still rings, floor exercise, high bar, parallel bar, pommel horse, and the individual all-around at the GAP Gym in Intramuros, Manila.
In weightlifting, Cebuano Chrisel Diamante lifted a total of 221 kgs, for the heaviest lift of the day in the 18-and-above class of the men’s 61-kg class, while teammate Jericson Castro took the 16-17, men’s 61-kg honors with his tally of 185.
Baguio emerged as the most bemedaled LGU in the PNG with 11 golds, silvers and five bronzes.