LONDON – Jasmine Alkhaldi, a Filipino-Saudi swimmer, who represented the Philippines in the 2012 Olympic Games, failed to advance to the semifinals of the women's 100-meter freestyle, her first and only event in London Wednesday. Alkhaldi placed fifth in heat three of the event after touching the wall at 57.13 seconds. That placed her 34th in a field of 48 swimmers, where only the top 16 advanced to the semifinals. Alkhaldi joined Filipinos Mark Javier, Jessie Khing Lacuna, Hidilyn Diaz, Rachel Cabral and Brian Rosario, who have also ended their Olympic campaign. Alkhaldi has been receiving dozens of comments from Arabs on her Twitter account over the past few days, wishing her the best of luck. “Oh. I can't understand and speak Arabic but THANK YOU so much for all your tweets of support. I will definitely do my best,” Jasmine wrote on her Twitter account, after her fans wished her to become a winner of the gold medal. The 19-year-old Jasmine was born in Para?aque, to a Saudi father and a Filipino mother. She holds the Philippine record for the 100m and 50m butterfly. She won three gold medals in the Southeast Asian Age Group Championships in 2011. “Ever since I was a kid, this was a dream – to be part of the Olympics,” she added. For Jasmine, making it to the London Games is the highlight of her athletic career so far, even though she has also competed in the Youth Olympics. “It's really amazing to achieve the qualifying time and to be able to be here and compete for the Philippines,” she said. — Agencies
