Sanya, China, April 26, 2026: The Thailand women’s sprinting team proved that individual brilliance translates perfectly into collective success, clinching a team relay gold to cap off a dominant weekend for their national program.
At the heart of this triumph was the rise of Jirapat Khanonta, who solidified her status as the breakout star of the Games at Phoenix Island.
For every team involved, the primary challenge was adapting to a surface far removed from the synthetic tracks of elite training facilities. Shifting to the unpredictable nature of sand, the Thai squad adjusted with impressive speed, a technical edge that became the foundation of their podium-topping performance.
Sunday’s women’s relay final was a crash course in coordination. The Thai quartet - Jirapat Khanonta, Athicha Phetkun, Supanich Poolkerd and Manatsada Sanmano - clocked a fluent 29.46s to secure the gold.
The Philippines took a hard-fought silver in 29.73s, while the host nation China claimed bronze in 30.42s.
Jirapat emerged as the undisputed “Sprint Queen,” securing two gold medals in just 48 hours. She clocked 7.46s to edge out China’s Xu Jialu (7.49s) in a nail-biting 60m finish and then anchored the Thai relay team with precision to ensure their second trip to the top of the podium.
Post-race analysis has centred on the technical demands of beach athletics. Philippine Olympian Kristina Knott highlighted the specific constraints that likely cost her team the gold.
In a standard 4x100m relay, athletes have a 30-meter window to exchange. At the Asian Beach Games, this is restricted to a mere 3 meters. There is no physical baton. Exchanges are conducted via a physical touch within that tiny, designated box - a manoeuvre Knott described as their “only enemy” during the sprint.
The difficult surface makes starts and hand-offs within such a tight window exceptionally hazardous. While the Philippines matched the Thai team for raw speed, the constraints of the beach format proved to be the ultimate separator.
Despite the narrow miss for gold, Knott’s teammate Jessica Rose Laurance remained ecstatic about her double-medal, silver and bronze, haul. “It feels great,” Laurance remarked. “Before coming here, I didn’t know what to expect or what one could achieve on sand. I really beat my own expectations.”