IT will be a busy week for the country’s Olympic hopefuls as they tumble and twirl, jump, race and gun for slots to the Paris Olympics barely three months from now.
They are led by Fil-American gymnast Emma Malabuyo, who kicked off her all-out drive to secure a ticket to the glamorous French capital as the qualifiers of the fourth and last leg of the FIG World Cup Series began in Doha, Qatar last night.
With 69 points earned over the three previous legs, Malabuyo is running second in the women’s floor exercise and reaching the finals and achieving a podium finish virtually seals the deal in her bid to become the country’s third gymnast to make it to the Paris Summer Games after Carlos Edriel Yulo and Aleah Finnegan.
Although assured of an Olympic ticket in the men’s floor exercise, Yulo is also in Doha as part of his Paris Summer Games build-up, competing in all six men’s events, while Fil-Hawaiian teener Levi Ruivivar Jr. will continue accumulating experience as he vies in four events in the women’s division.
In athletics, Cambodia Southeast Asian Games long jump champion Janry Ubas and high jumper Leonard Grospe, who set a new national mark of 2.20 meters in the Philippine National Games last December, see action in the Singapore Open starting today at the sprawling Singapore National Stadium.
Over in the US, Eric Cray, Robyn Brown and Kristina Knott are competing in the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, California opening today while Hoffman is set to action in the one-day Wake Forest Invitational in Winston Salem, North Carolina tomorrow (Saturday in Manila).
Cray and Brown will plunge into action in the men’s and women’s 400-meter hurdles, respectively, while Tokyo Olympian Knott will race in the women’s 200-meter dash at the Mt. Hilmer Lodge Stadium on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
