Fil-American Kayla Richardson (Photo courtesy of Team Philippines) HANOI - Fil-American Kayla Richardson stepped out of the shadows of her more illustrious teammate Kristina Knott as she crowned herself the fastest woman in the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the My Dinh National Stadium here Wednesday. A slow starter, Richardson picked up the pace halfway through the 100-meter finals and held steady to the finish, clocking 11.6 seconds to master an 8-runner field that included 200-m queen, Singapore's Shanti Pereira, who placed runner-up with a time of 11.62. Thailand's Supanich Poolkerd placed third in 11.66 seconds. "I can't complain. I'm so grateful. It took me a lot to get here. I thank God for getting me here," said a teary-eyed Richardson, after sharing a sweet embrace with sister and fellow national athlete Kyla and father Jeff. The 26-year-old Richardson only placed second in the heats with a 12.02 time, but it was a ploy to reserve strength for the rac
HANOI - Fil-American Kayla Richardson regained the 100m dash crown she won in 2015 as a teenager as the Philippines held off a spirited challenge by Indonesia for third overall Wednesday in the 31st Southeast Asian Games here. Richardson's victory in the century dash at dusk came after the women's archery team of Abby Bidaure and sister Pia, along with Phoebe Amistoso, bagged the team recurve title at the Hanoi National Training Center. Meanwhile, Johann Chua emerged as the new singles 9-ball billiards king at the Ha Dong District Sporting Hall. Now 26, Richardson emerged as the 100m queen of the 2015 Singapore games, but somehow faded into the backseat when she yielded the spotlight to Kristina Knott in recent years. Knott became the darling of Philippine athletics in 2019 when she won two gold medals in the 4x100 mixed relay and the 200 meters. But Knott, who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, had to skip the games here due to plantar fasciitis in her foot, leaving the