Philippine athletics team kayang makipagsabayan — Capistrano

MANILA, Philippines — Hindi na nagdadalawang-isip ang Philippine athletics team na sumabak sa pinakamataas na antas ng international competition.

Naniniwala ang Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) na magiging palaban ang mga national athletes sa Asian arena at maging con­sistent qualifier sa mga susunod na world cham­pionships.

Ang nasabing kumpiyansa ng PATAFA ay base sa pagdo­minang muli ni poler vaulter EJ Obiena sa nakaraang 20th Asian Games sa Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

Nagdagdag din ng tig-isang bronze medal sina Fil-Am Vanessa Bossong sa women’s 800-meter run at Fil-Spanish John Ca­bang Tolentino sa men’s 110m hurdles.

Matapos ang Aichi-Nagoya Asiad ay tututok ang PATAFA sa 34th Southeast Asian Games sa Malaysia sa 2027 at sa mga quali­fying tournaments para sa Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

“We are no longer skep­tical to compete at a high le­vel because we have al­ready gained confidence in our capabilities,” ani PA­TAFA president Terry Ca­pis­trano.

“The future is getting brighter. We already have a number of potential stars, and some of them have already stepped up to the challenge,” dagdag nito.

Inangkin ni Obiena ang kanyang back-to-back Asian Games gold me­dal sa men’s pole vault sa Ai­chi-Nagoya kasabay ng pagtatala ng bagong meet record na 5.91 meters.

Mas lumiwanag pa ang hi­naharap ng Philippine ath­letics sa likod nina Naomi Cesar, ang 800m gold medalist sa 2025 Bangkok SEA Games, SEA Games champion Hussein Lorana at Pi Durden Wangkay, bumandera sa men’s 200m sa Asian Youth Games.

“Satisfied? No, not quite. While this is the best sho­wing since 1982, we really think we could have done better. We’re ho­ping to see improvement in eve­ry competition,” wika ni Ca­pistrano.

“Next year will mark the start of Olympic qualifying and the SEA Games. I’m con­fident Bossong will be formidable there,” dagdag ng PATAFA head.