Buenavista trains sights on Asiad

KUALA LUMPUR (Via Globe Telecoms) —The Southeast Asian Games today, the Asian Games tomorrow.

That has become Eduardo Buenavista’s battlecry after the sturdy 22-year-old South Cotabato native won the 21st SEA Games 3,000-meter steeplechase in record-breaking fashion at the 100,000-seat Stadium Nasional inside the sprawling Sulkan Negara Complex Tuesday night.

That the pocket-size Filipino runner made the feat without anyone from his rivals putting up the challenge convinced many that the Philippines has got a gold-medal prospect in the Asian Games set in Pusan, Korea next year.

He won practically by a mile with a clocking of 8:40.77, eclipsing the 10-year-old mark of 8:55.85 set by his predecessor Hector Begeo in the 1991 Manila SEA Games.

"Siguro naibaba ko pa ng 8:30 kung may kalaban," said Buenavista although he said he couldn’t believe what he saw when he looked at the giant video wall in the venue after his runaway victory. For the record, the Asian Games mark is 8:31.

"Nagulat ako. Tanong ko nga sa sarili ko, totoo ba ito," he said.

Actually, Jirasak Sutichat of Thailand and S. Ganesan of Malaysia tried vainly to keep pace with Buenavista in the early goings, losing steam, in the process, and yielding the silver to Daud Mama — another Filipino entry — in the end.

Buenavista, a Navyman, credited his victory on high-altitude training in Baguio and the vitamins supplement provided by track and field association president Go Teng Kok.

A last-minute addition to the RP delegation in Brunei in 1999, Buenavista used sheer power to win the silver medal.

"He really has the potential to make it good in the region," said Go, adding that he was approached by a German at the grandstand after Buenavista’s run, telling him to take care of the runner because he’s an Asian Games potential.

"Sabi ni coach Mario Castro pwede raw naming paghandaan ang Asian Games," said the runner.

Buenavista, a Navyman, left his pursuers gasping in his wake en route to the Philippines’ first athletic gold at the start of athletic competitions in a time of 8:40.77, breaking the 10-year-old mark of 8:55.85 by his predecessor Hector Begeo in the 1991 SEA Games in Manila.

A far second but nevertheless owner of the silver medal was teammate Daud Mama, who edged out his rival in their battle about 50 meters behind Buenavista for most of the way to finish in 9:02.89. "I’m dedicating this to my countrymen," said the 22-year-old brand new father of a two-month-old baby boy back home in South Cotabato.

The victory erased the first day frustrations of athletics chief Go Teng Kok who earlier was cheering loudly for Lerma Bulauitan in the long jump competitions before a Vietnamese made a surprise leap on her fifth attempt to win the gold.

Vietnamese Phan Thi Thu Lan, whose best leap was only 6.26m after three attempts, exceeded Bulauitan’s leading mark of 6.43m with a jump of 6.46m on her fifth attempt. Bulauitan tried to beat her rival on her sixth and last attempt but was called for a foul.