Swimmer Kayla Sanchez Photograph courtesy of PSC-POC Media Pool.
SPORTS

Sanchez falls short of making the 100-m freestyle final

Ivan Suing

Kayla Sanchez's Paris Olympics debut came to a close after she missed out on the women's 100-meter freestyle final at the Paris La Defénse Arena early Wednesday (Manila time).

Sanchez clocked in at 54.21 seconds in Heat 2 to finish in seventh place in the event and 15th out of 16 swimmers.

Gretchen Walsh of the United States made the cut for the medal round with a time of 53.18.

In the qualifying heats, the Filipino-Canadian tanker set a new national record after clocking in 53.67.

With Sanchez out of the medal picture, Team Philippines now only has 15 athletes eligible to contend for medals in the Summer Games.

Earlier, boxer Eumir Marcial suffered an early exit in the men's light heavyweight division after Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan pulled off a unanimous decision in their Round of 16 bout in the Noth Paris Arena.

Last Tuesday, Kiyomi Watanabe lost to Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Jang Ting of China in the Round of 32 of the women's -63-kilogram event at the Champ-de-Mars Arena while rower Joanie Delgaco's stint in the women's single sculls also ended as she failed to qualify for the semifinal at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium - Flatwater.

Gymnasts Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, and Levi Ruivivar fell short of making it to the women's artistic gymnastics individual all-around as well as the final of the floor exercise, vault, uneven bars, and balance beam.