JOHN Cabang Tolentino virtually has one foot in Paris after maintaining his No. 28 ranking in the latest men’s 110-meter hurdles World Athletics Olympic qualifying ratings released last Wednesday.
The Spain-based Tolentino is well within the top 40 entries set to qualify for the Paris Olympics opening next month with the WA cut-off date of June 30.
He gets another chance to fortify his Olympic bid when he sees action today in the Meeting Madrid in Madrid, Spain together with Robyn Brown, who will compete in the women’s 400-meter hurdles.
Brown, the reigning Asian women’s 400-meter hurdles queen, is in the running as she is at No. 39 with 40 slots up for grabs, with national teammate Lauren Hoffman at No. 35.
Hoffman is scheduled to compete in the Cybulski Memorial at the Golecin Stadion in Poznan, Poland on Sunday (Monday morning in Manila).
Also needing a good showing is Eric Cray, who at No. 45 aims to crack the top 40 in the men’s 4×400-meter hurdles with a strong performance in the Classique d’athlétisme de Montréal Canada together with sprinter Kristina Knott.
Eyeing a second straight Olympics after making her debut in the Tokyo edition three years ago, Knott was at No. 46 in the women’s 200-meter run with 48 Olympic tickets up for grabs.
Joining them is Willie Morrision, who will take part in the men’s shot put and is fresh from his bronze-medal finish in the Asian Throwing Championships in Mokpo, South Korea last week with a season best 19.22 meters.
Another Olympic hopeful who needs to redouble his efforts is Janry Ubas, who is at No. 43 in the event where only 32 berths are available and needs a podium finish at the very least in the 33rd Qosanov Memorial starting tomorrow in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
