ERLINDA Lavandia made a heave of 30.28 meters Tuesday to win a silver medal in the 60-above category of the women’s javelin throw in the 22nd World Masters Athletics Championships in Perth, Australia.
The 64-year-old Lavandia finished behind Anne Kristine Jensen of Denmark, who took the gold with her 30.59-meter performance.
Lavandia made her best effort on her sixth and last attempt after making a 30.42-meter throw on her first attempt.
Anna Matinho of Portugal settled for the bronze after she hurled the spear at a distance of 25.89 meters on her third try.
Lavandia’s effort was better than what she did in Lyons, France last year.
She also landed a decent silver-medal finish after recording 28.23 meters in the final round.
She was behind Linda Cohn of the United States, who topped the women’s 60-63 age division with her 34.11 meters.
The heave was far below Lavandia’s best.
In 2013, the Ilonggo-born athlete took her sixth WMA gold medal in the javelin throwing competition with her best record of 39.83 meters when it was held in Brazil.
Earlier, Danilo Fresnido opened Team Philippines’ bid when he dominated the men’s 40-44 javelin throw competition.
Fresnido, who is the current national coach and national record holder, heaved the spear to a distance of 62.30 meters to beat seven rivals for the gold.
Finnish Harri Leivonen placed a distant second with 54.92 meters, while Indian Ved Prakash Singh took the bronze with a 52.38m throw.
Other finishers were Finnish Sami Salo (50.23m), American Erick Friedman (48.51m), German Markus Paque (47.85), British Graham Lay (44.74m), and Australian Rene Doel (43.78m).
The 44-year-old Fresnido managed to claim the silver last year.
There are four other tracksters in the Philippine delegation, including javelin thrower Erlinda Lavandia, pole vaulter Emerson Obiena, marathoner Lorna Vejano, and Olympian long jumper Marestella Torres-Sunang, who is debuting on the world masters stage.
