Filipino tracksters flounder

BUSAN, South Korea – Southeast Asian Games double gold medallist Eduardo Buenavista submitted a national record despite finishing eighth in the 10,000 meters and Lerma Bulauitan Gabito missed out on the bronze in the women’s long jump at the start of athletics competition at the Busan Main Stadium here.

The 23-year-old Buenavista timed in 29:02.36 in his first attempt on the event and wiped out the 18-year-old mark of his present coach Mario Castro but he could only take eighth overall against awesome opposition.

Gabito made 6.30 meters on her second attempt but lost the bronze to Kazakhstan’s Yelena Kochsheyeva, who made the same distance twice in the event won by Indian Anju Bobby George in 6:53. Maho Hanoakoa of Japan won the silver at 6:47.

Buenavista, winner of two golds in the Kuala Lumpur SEAG, endured a bleeding knee which was spiked by a Qatari runner and went on to establish the mark that broke the 30:34.16 set by Castro in 1984 in the old Palarong Pambansa. It was also better than the 30:19 time he made in the Adidas King of the Road race in Hong Kong.

Saudi Arabia’s Makhid Al Otaibi took the gold in 28:41.89 while Qatar’s Hashim Ahmed Ibrahim won the silver (28:43.53) and Brunei’s Abdul Hak Zakaria the bronze in 28:46.11.

"Na-spike ako pagkatapos ng first 5,000 meters at nahirapan na. Malakas ang kalaban," said Buenavista.

Another Filipino trackster, Ernie Candelario, finished third in his heat in the men’s 400 meters to advance to the semifinal round today. Maristella Torres ended up sixth in the women’s long jump with 6.08 meters.

Gabito, hoping for a medal finish to underscore her readiness to be retired Elma Muros Posadas’ successor, made 6:30 on her second attempt but couldn’t improve on it in her four tries.

Although Kochsheyeva made foul jumps, she matched her best 6:30 jump on her fifth attempt to earn the bronze and duplicate the feat of compatriot Yelena Pershina four years ago in Bangkok.

BUSAN, South Korea -- Kazakhstan won the men’s 20-kilometer walk and China took the women’s race Monday on the opening day of the Asian Games athletics program.

Valeriy Borissov trailed the leaders on the streets of Busan until the last kilometer when he kicked past silver medalist Yu Chaohong of China, crossing the line in 1 hour, 24 minutes and 20 seconds.

Borissov, 36, won the silver in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, but he placed fifth in the East Asian Games in Osaka last May.

Yu, 26, finished in 1:24:23 and 31-year-old Satoshi Yanagisawa of Japan won the bronze with a time of 1:25:33.

In the women’s event, China’s Wang Qingqing, 19, won the gold with a time of 1:33:40, and her compatriot Gao Kelian, 19, got the silver, finishing in 1:33:59. The bronze went to Kazakhstan’s Svetlana Tolstaya, 31, who had 1:35:03.