MANILA, Philippines - Sampu hanggang 11-gold ang tinitingnan sa athletics sa 29th Southeast Asian Games na nakatakda sa Aug. 19-31 sa susunod na taon sa Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“My wishlist is a very roughly 10 to 11 golds in the SEAG, that’s our target, which is still below the 12 won here in Manila in the 1981 SEAG,” sabi ni Phl track and field president Philip “Popoy” Juico.
Ibinase ni Juico ang kanyang prediksiyon sa limang gold na napanalunan sa Singapore SEA Games noong nakaraang taon mula kina Eric Cray (100m and 400m hurdles), Caleb Stuart (hammer throw), Kayla Richardson (100m) at Christopher Ulboc (3000m steeplechase).
Inaasahan ni Juico na mananalo si EJ Obiena (pole vault), Marestella Torres (long jump), Harry Diones (triple jump), Trentan Beram (400m), Mervin Guarte (800m), Patrick Unso (low hurdles) at ang 4x400m team.
Ang mga atletang ito ang planong ipadala ni Juico na bibigyan ng special training at funding sa susunod na taon.
“We currently have 60 athletes in our pool, 19 of them are in our priority list,” sabi ni Juico. “From these, we will choose 12 to 17 who will receive specialized training coming from the private sector including Ayala.”
Binanggit din ni Juico sina Marco Vilog (800m), Aries Toledo (decathlon), Edgardo Alejan, Jr. (relay), Jessica Bernard (3000), Kyla Richardson (sprints) at mga relay specialists na sina Joan Caido, Ryan Bigyan at Raymond Alferos.
Sinabi ni Juico na kailangang sumali ang mga nabanggit na atleta sa National Open sa March 30 hanggang April 2 sa Ilagan, Isabela.