ANOTHER possible track and field gold medal contender for the country in the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December?
Former varsity walkathoner Carlo de Imus could just be the man after finishing seventh in an eye-popping new national mark of one hour, 30 minutes and .03 seconds in the men’s 20-kilometer event of the Asian Race Walking Championships in Nomi, Japan last Sunday.
A former runner for Far Eastern University, De Imus, 23, smashed by nearly four minutes the 16-year national record of 1:33.51 set by Michael Embuedo in Lingayen, Pangasinan on May 10, 2009.
For perspective, his time was faster than the gold-medal times of Vietnam’s Vo Xuan Vinh (1:32.32) and Indonesia’s Hendro Yap (1:40.42) in the 2021 Vietnam and 2023 Cambodia Southeast Asian Games, respectively.
De Imus’ clocking is also superior to the SEA Games standard of 1:32.11 booked by Yap in topping the event in the 2017 Malaysia Games.
Compatriot Julianne Ana Halaguena failed to finish on the distaff side of the event in the meet held in the hometown of former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
“He (De Imus) is still not part of the national team, but we will recommend his inclusion based on his performance in the Asian Race Walking Championships,” said Philippine Athletics Track and Field secretary general Jasper Tanhueco.
“Pasok ‘yung time niya as a national record and, please note, his time was faster than the SEA Games gold winner in Cambodia two years ago,” said Tanhueco.
“De Imus actually made the bronze standard of 1:49.39 in the Cambodia SEA Games in the ASEAN University Games (in Surabaya, Indonesia) last year but since the meet was not sanctioned by World Athletics, his time was not officially recognized,” he disclosed.
In another positive athletic development over the weekend, 2019 Philippine Games double gold medalist and Tokyo Olympic Games veteran Kristina Knott booked a spot in the women’s 60-meter run of the 19th World Athletics Indoor Championships opening on March 21 in Nanjing, China.
Knott, 29, qualified by finishing at No. 40 among the top 56 qualifiers in the WA women’s 60-meter ranking list at the end of the cut-off date last March 9, clocking 7.32 seconds, good for fifth, in the Don Kerby Elite Invitational meet in Albuquerque, New Mexico last Feb. 15.
