Consistent champ: Agatha Wong gets gold for 5th straight SEA Games

CHONBURI, Thailand – Agatha Wong has made it a habit of reigning supreme in the Southeast Asian Games.

The Filipina wushu star struck gold for the fifth consecutive edition of the regional showpiece as she topped the women’s taijiquan-taijijian event at the Chaeng Watthana Government Complex in Bangkok on Sunday, December 14.

Wong earned 9.773 points in taijiquan and 9.783 points in taijijian for a total of 19.556 points to capture her sixth SEA Games gold overall.

The aspiring doctor has not failed to win a SEA Games gold since topping the taijiquan event in 2017, going on to claim both the taijijian and taijiquan crowns on home soil in 2019, and then defending her taijijian title in 2021.

Even when taijiquan and taijijian were combined into a single event in 2023 in Cambodia, Wong still came out on top.

The victory is a redemption of sorts for Wong as she beat Brunei’s Basma Lachkar and Malaysia’s Sydney Chin, her two rivals who placed higher in the 2023 Asian Games. 

Wong fell short of a medal in that Asian Games after finishing fifth, with Lachkar taking the silver and Chin winding up at fourth.

This time, though, Wong won as Lachkar settled for silver with 19.546 points, while Chin clinched bronze with 19.523 points. 

Wong now owns eight SEA Games medals in total after also bagging the taijijian silver in 2017 and the taijiquan silver in 2021. – Rappler.com