Coach comes out of retirement to sub for injured wrestler, bags gold medal in SEA Games

A mother and her daughter made the Philippines proud in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games after bagging a gold and a bronze medal, respectively, in women's wrestling.

According to Chino Trinidad's report on "24 Oras," the mom, Cristina Vergara, was actually a national team coach but had to compete when one of the athletes got injured.

Cristina has been enjoying her retirement from wrestling for over a decade now, but once she stepped on the mat, her old instincts kicked in.

She competed in the women's freestyle 65kg division and dominated her much younger rivals, clinching the gold with a 12-2 dismantling of her Cambodian foe in the finals.

"Hindi ko rin po talaga in-expect na mag-gold ako kasi s'yempre alam natin ang mga kalaban natin ay mga bata. Pero s'yempre Pilipino tayo, ginawa natin lahat ng makakaya natin para makuha ang gintong medalya," she said.

This is her third SEA Games gold medal, as Cristina also ruled the competition in the 2003 edition in Vietnam and 2005 in the Philippines .

Her daughter Cathlyn, meanwhile, competed in the women's freestyle 49kg division and bagged a bronze medal.

Like her mom, the young wrestler said she did not expect to win a medal. With the support of her team, however, she made it.

"Lagi po sa 'kin nila sinasabi na magtiwala lang daw po. Give your best shot—'pag kaya mo, kaya mo," she said.

Cristina is over the moon that she and her daughter got to share this experience as athletes.

"Napakasaya para po ialay sa bayan natin ang gintong medalya, saka ang medalya ng anak ko. Haping-hapi po na parang nasa ulap po ako ngayon," she said.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News