THE country’s track and field Olympic hopefuls are entering the homestretch in their bid to make the grade for the Paris Summer Games opening in the French capital barely next month.
Resuming their drive are Lauren Hoffman and Robyn Brown, who will see action in women’s 400-meter hurdles of the Edmonton Athletics Invitational at the Foote Field in Alberta, Canada on Thursday (Friday in Canada), with Kristina Knott waitlisted in the women’s 200-meter run.
Hoffman and Brown are currently ranked Nos. 32 and 40 in the World Athletics Olympic qualifying ratings in an event where 40 spots are up for grabs while Tokyo Olympian Knott is No. 40 in her forte with 48 tickets available for Paris.
Also scrambling to book a seat for the Olympic Games is long jumper Janry Ubas, who sees action in the Thailand Open kicking off this Thursday in the Thai capital of Bangkok.
A gold and silver medalist in the 2023 Cambodia Southeast Asian Games, Ubas is 37th in the WA men’s long jump rankings and needs a strong performance to be among the top 32 in the list on the July 7 cut-off date to make it to Paris.
Spain-based John Cabang Tolentino, who is ranked No. 28 in the men’s 110-meter hurdles where 40 slots are available, is lined up to compete in the Meet Madrid 2024 on June 21 at the Stadio Villahermoso in Madrid, Spain, according to athletics secretary general Jasper Tanhueco.
While he is considered a longshot to make it to Paris Olympics, two-time Southeast Asian Games men’s shot put champion Willie Morrison will try to show that he is in competitive shape when he sees action in the Asian Throwing Championships opening this Friday in Mokpo, South Korea.
Morrison heaved a season best of 19.18 meters in securing the silver medal in his pet event at the Royal City Inferno Track and Field Festival in Guelph, Canada last week.
It was a marked improvement of 41 centimeters, equivalent to 16.14 inches, over his throw of 18.77 meters when he won the gold in the Philippine Athletics Championships at the Philsports track oval in Pasig City.
