THE Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association is fielding hurdler John Cabang Tolentino and long jumper Janry Ubas, who are both Olympic hopefuls, to the 11th Asian Indoor Athletic Championships on Feb. 17-19 in Tehran, Iran.
“Tolentino will compete in the men’s 60-meter hurdles while Ubas, of course, will see action in the long jump. They are currently are in good positions to qualify for Paris,” said newly-appointed Patafa secretary general Jasper Tanhueco yesterday.
A bronze medalist in the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games last year, Filipino-Spanish hurdler Tolentino has been steadily improving, finishing fourth in the men’s 110-meter hurdles in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games in 13.62 seconds.
His clocking in the Hangzhou Asiad would have given him the sure gold in the Cambodia SEA Games since the winning time in the event was 13.831 seconds that was jointly shared by co-champions Natthapon Dangsungnoen of Thailand and Ang Chen Xiang of Singapore.
Tolentino has a personal best of 13.53 seconds, a shade off the Olympic qualifying time of 13.27 seconds.
Ubas, the reigning SEA Games men’s long jump champ, set a new national record of 8.08 meters in the men’s long jump event of the decathlon in Cambodia, 19 centimeters or slightly more than seven inches off the Olympic grade of 8.27 meters.
