Six top Asian tracksters due for Grand Prix

Coming at the heels of the successful Milo National Open-Gov. Sering Cup international championships, local athletics gets another big boost with the staging of the PCSO-PSC Asian Grand Prix on May 26 at the Rizal Memorial track oval.

No less than the top six Asian tracksters in 15 events will join the national athletes and the brightest local juniors in a day-long display of topnotch competition which is the third and last leg of the prestigious Asain Grand Prix series.

The organizing Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association, riding the crest of the successful dual meet two weeks ago, will be joined this time by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Sports Commission in hosting the Grand Prix which has its first leg in India on May 18 and second stop in Thailand on May 21.

"We have yet to fully recover — mentally and physically — from the hardships of staging the Milo National Open-Gov. Sering Cup. Our works, however, are not yet over so we’re coming up with a followup which is bigger and better," said PATAFA president Go Teng Kok.

The Asian Grand Prix, like the Milo National Open-Gov. Sering Cup, is part of the PATAFA program for the coming Asian Games in Busan, Korea where GTK’s Army, led by Eduardo Buenavista, hopes to sustain the win streak from last year’s Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

On tap in the one-day event are the men’s 400 hurdles, shot put, high jump, 400 meters, javelin, 800 meters, triple jump, 100 sprint and 3,000 meters and the women’s long jump, 100, 400, 800, discus throw and 100 sprint.

Prize money in the Asian Grand Prix are $2,000 for the champion, $1,000 for runner-up and $500 for third.

"The Philippines is very lucky to get the third leg because the Grand Prix requires the top three finishers to complete all three legs before they can get their prize money.

"So now we can safely declare that only the best tracksters in Asia will be coming here to compete against the best Filipino tracksters," added Go.