LIKE Eric Cray, Robyn Lauren Brown had a fleeting stint in the World Athletics Championships early yesterday, finishing seventh in the heats of the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.83 seconds at the National Athletics Center in Budapest, Hungary.
A gold medalist in the Asian meet in Bangkok, Thailand last July, Brown failed to keep up with the blistering pace of her rivals in the second heat won by Jamaica’s Janieve Russel in 54.53 seconds.
American Anna Cockrell (54.68), Panama’s Gianna Woodruff (55.31) and Canada’s Savannah Sutherland (55.85) finished second, third and fourth, respectively, to join Russel in the semifinals.
Brown wound up 35th among 41 entries in the heats and now must go same the route as Cray if she hopes to qualify for the Paris Olympics next year.
She must either make the outright qualifying standard of 54.85 seconds or pile up ranking points in any World Athletics sanctioned events and hope she finishes high enough to book a ticket to the French capital.
The last Filipino standing is pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, who will see action in the qualifiers on Thursday, hoping to duplicate if not surpass his bronze medal finish in the 2022 edition of the meet in Eugene, Oregon.
