ON a golden Wednesday afternoon, Jason Cabang Tolentino and Lauren Hoffman underscored how primed they are to qualify for the Paris Olympics by ruling their separate events in record-breaking style in the ICSTI Philippine Athletics Championships at the Philsports oval in Pasig City.
Pressed by two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Clinton Bautista in the 110-meter hurdles, Tolentino, 22, clocked 13.37 seconds to surpass his national mark of 13.53 seconds set in the Spanish Championships in Torrent, Spain in July 2023.
Behind by a half-hurdle, Bautista, 32, settled for runner-up honors in 13.98 while Hong Kong’s Liu Hu Long was a distant third (14.76) in the meet organized by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association and backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and CEL Logistics.
Tuning up for her race in the women’s 400-meter hurdles today, Hoffman easily topped the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 13.34 seconds, erasing her previous standard of 13.41 when she clinched the gold in the Duke Invitational in Durham, North Carolina last month.
Finishing a far second was Jelly Diane Paragile (14.16) while lagging in third place was Lyka Miravilles (15.23).
“I am happy I tied my national record and in the country at that,” said Tolentino, a full-blooded Filipino, who was raised by Spanish parents in the Basque seaside city of San Sebastian at the age of nine after her single mom was forced to give her up to give him son a better life.
Now ranked No. 31 in the World Athletics Olympic qualifying ratings in his pet event, Tolentino tantalizingly moved closer to the entry standard of 13.27 seconds that he hopes to either equal or surpass in the Seiko Golden Grand Prix opening on May 19 at the Tokyo National Stadium in Japan.
Tolentino and his Spanish coach, Martin dela Fuente, said that based on their computations after yesterday’s race, the athlete would rise to No. 24 once the World Athletics releases its new ratings next week.
“I just do this short hurdle for fun, but it shows my potential if I keep working on this event,” noted Hoffman of her latest feat, “but my focus is to qualify for the Olympics this year in the 400-meter hurdles.
