CAPAS, Tarlac. — Fans can expect a battle royale when Paris Olympic Games veteran Lauren Hoffman and former Asian champion Robyn Brown collide for the women’s 400-meter crown as the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships get underway Thursday at the world-class New Clark City Athletic Stadium here.
Hobbled by a foot injury that stymied her Olympic debut in Paris last year, Hoffman, 26, will compete in her first meet since then and is fancied to rule her pet event, the women’s 400-meter hurdles, whose heats are set at 2:10 p.m.
Expected to provide stiff competition is former Asian women’s 400-meter hurdles champion Robyn Brown, who will be racing in a separate heat in the competition supported by ICTSI Sports Foundation, CEL Logistics and United Auctioneers Inc.
Brown will have a chip on her shoulder after narrowly missing a slot in the same event during the country’s historic centennial jubilee in the quadrennial meet in the French capital, highlighted by the golden double of gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo.
Both arriving in Manila just two days ago, Hoffman, a former Duke University varsity standout, and Brown are expected to advance in the closely-contested finals at 8:10 p.m. of the meet backed by the Bases Conversion Development Authority-NCC, Milo, Pocari Sweat, Energy A and Masiv Sports.
Tokyo Olympian and 2019 Philippine Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist Kristina Knott is also in town and will be the woman to beat in the women’s 200-meter race, whose heats will be at 4 p.m., and the finals at 6:50 p.m.
A former crosscountry star for Gonzaga University, Yacine Guermali, 25, will bid to retain one of two titles he won in the 2024 edition as the top favorite in the men’s 5,000-meter finals at 7 pm. of the trackfest organized by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association and likewise backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Patafa secretary general Jasper Tanhueco disclosed that nearly a thousand athletes from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines are vying in the country’s premier trackfest, popularly known as the National Open.
Tanhueco said the meet, also sponsored by Wireless Link and Clark Water, serves as a vital qualifying event for those aspiring to compete for the country in the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December, as well as the Asian Youth Games in Manama, Bahrain in October for the Pinoy junior campaigners.
“Those who excel in the Under-18 category stand a good chance of qualifying for the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain so we urge them to really go all out to perform so they can represent the country in this prestigious event,” Tanhueco said.
That the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships is being held at a World Athletics-certified track for the first time explains why it has drawn a lot of foreign athletes, who aim to earn ranking points in their bid to qualify for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan in September, according to Tanhueco.
Action starts at 6:30 a.m. with the finals of the women’s 10,000-meter walk and the men’s Under-18 5,000-meter walk, respectively.
With the scorching summer weather averaging in the forties, organizers have decided to schedule most of the events in the afternoon, beginning at 2 p.m. for the health and well-being of the participating athletes.
