By MARK REY MONTEJO
Veteran hurdler Robyn Brown pushed herself to the max against the globe’s finest athletes but her best was not enough, falling short to reach the semifinal of the 2025 World Championship at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 15.
Running up against decorated hurdler Femke Bol of the Netherlands, Brown, 31, shrugged off the pressure early and rallied herself ahead but eventually ran out of gas as she settled for ninth place in the first heat of the women’s 400m hurdles.
The 2023 Asian Athletics gold winner timed in 57.03 seconds, while Bol, an Olympic champion, topped the bracket in 53.75sec to qualify in the semifinal set Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the same venue.
“Ran a race with Femke [Bol],” Brown wrote on her Instagram story.
Aside from Bol, Italian Ayomide Folorunso (54.67sec), Belgian Naomi Van den Broeck (54.70), and Bahraini Kemi Adekoya (55.15) also advanced, along with 20 others.
The fastest hurdler in the heats was American Jasmine Jones (53.18).
With Brown’s exit, the Philippines concluded its campaign in the biennial meet after seeing two-time Olympian EJ Obiena stumble in his bid for a third straight podium finish.
The 29-year-old Obiena failed to soar past the 5.70m and 5.75m marks and settled at joint 18th place in the top-tier 36-man field.
Obiena made history two years ago with a silver-medal finish in the Budapest edition where he recorded his personal-best of 6 meters – also an Asian mark.
