Tracksters, karatekas fall short

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WITH their Olympic qualifying window in athletics fast closing, Kristina Knott and Eric Cray posted contrasting results in the Sollentuna Grand Prix at the Solentunanavallen in Solentuna, Sweden yesterday (Sunday in Europe).

Between the two Fil-Ams, Knott did better, placing second in the women’s 100m dash in 11.54 seconds behind Italy’s Anna Bongiorni, who topped the race in 11.42 seconds.

Hometown bet Irene Ekelund finished third in 11.58.

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Cray clocked  51.05 seconds in the men’s 400m hurdles to place fifth behind Irish winner Thomas Barr (49.25), with Frenchman Wilfried Happio (49.20) and American Quincy Downing (49.66) taking second and third, respectively.

The time of Knott, who was still apparently feeling jet lag after leaving for Sweden last June 10, in the century sprint was way off the Olympic qualifying standard of 11.15 seconds while Cray’s clocking was far from the Olympic cut of 48.90 seconds in his pet event.

Based on the evaluation of pinoyathletic.info website owner and coach Andrew Pirie, Knott has a better chance of qualifying for the Olympic Games outright since she could be among the top 56 runners globally in both the 100 and 200m runs based on her World Athletics-recognized times.

The top 56 sprinters in both races by the June 29 cut-off date, regardless if they make the qualifying times, will make it to the Tokyo Olympic Games, according to Pyrie.

Meanwhile, 30th Southeast Asian Games winner Jaimie Christine Lim and Sharif Afif fell in their respective divisions at the close of the World Karate Olympic qualifying tournament in Paris, France last Sunday.

Lim, the daughter of basketball great Samboy Lim, narrowly beat Austria’s Alisa Buchingner 3-2 in the first round in the women’s +61k g division but was outclassed by Tunisia’s Chehinez Jemi 2-7 in the second round.

A bronze medalist in the 30th SEA Games, Shafif failed to go beyond the first round of the men’s +75kg division, losing to Portugal’s Felipe Reis 0-2.

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