KUCHING Sept 6 — It was another successful day for Team Malaysia at the 55th Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championships in Kathmandu, Nepal where they not only secured three more gold medals, but also set the record of first Sarawakian woman to clinch a title in the regional competition.

Bidayuh musclewoman Philomena Dexclyn Siar, 40, started the day’s gold medal collection by winning the Women’s Sports Physique (Over 165cm) event, where Nguyen Thi Kim Cuong of Vietnam and Ajaree Tansub of Thailand placed second and third respectively.

"I’m having a mix of feelings now – happy, emotional, gratitude, and relief!

"I do feel blessed to have finally achieved what I have worked really hard for, which is getting my first gold medal in the Asian championships,” the state government administrative officer told The Borneo Post via WhatsApp today.

The Kathmandu outing was Philomena’s third appearance in the Asian championships – she was in the Top 5 for both the 2019 edition in Batam (Indonesia) and in Maldives last year.

Her international debut was at an open tournament held in Singapore five years ago.

Prior to Nepal, Philomena’s best achievement in this sport was a silver medal at the 16th South East Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championships in Yangon, Myanmar in 2019.

"Now, I am all fired up for the world championships in South Korea this November,” she said. — Borneo Post