STILL recovering from COVID-19 and an injury, Eric Shawn Cray propped up his sagging Olympic hopes yesterday (Saturday in the US) by clocking a season best 49.68 seconds to place third in the men’s 400-meter hurdles of the NACAC New Life Invitational meet at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida.
Cray, who also placed third in his heats with the same clocking, ran a strong race to challenge Costa Rica’s Gerald Drummond, a multiple Central American hurdles champion, and Jamaica’s Shawn Rowe, who checked in first and second with times of 49.47 and 49.53 seconds, respectively.
It was the first time the Fil-Am athlete, a double gold medalist in the last 30th Southeast Asian Games in 2019 and a four-time 400-meter hurdles SEA Games king, went under 50 seconds this season, although he still has to make the qualifying standard of 48.90 seconds.
“Road to Tokyo. SB 49.6 after COVID and pulled hamstring!! Finally getting back into shape. Keep pushing,” the beaming Cray posted on his Instagram account shortly after his performance.
He has barely three weeks left before the Olympic qualifying deadline on June 28.
Fellow Olympic athletic hopeful Kristina Knott fared better compared to her last meet a week ago, checking in with a time of 23.27 seconds to place sixth in the women’s 200-meter dash finals after ruling her heat with the same time.
Jamaican Elaine Thompson Hera, who won a golden sprint double in the 2016 Rio Olympiad, topped the event in 22.54 seconds while American Kyra Jefferson (22.77) and Englishwoman Jodie Williams (23.10) were second and third, respectively.
“She (Knott) won her heat, finished healthy, placed sixth, overall got points, mission accomplished,” noted American coach Rohsaan Griffin, who has been supervising the athlete’s training in summing up his ward’s performance.
