After falling in the semifinals of the 400M hurdles in the 2016 Olympic Games, Filipino-American sensation Eric Cray isn’t letting his spirits be dampened as he looks forward to the next competition.
Cray retreated to the Athletes Villlage optimistic, vowing to trainharder and doing better next time.
“I just got to get ready for the next race, keep training and get ready for the next season to come.
“Tokyo 2020 is going to be even better,” said Cray, who clocked 49.37 seconds in his semifinal heat and could not make it to the 12-man finals on Thursday.
Cray is flying home to El Paso, Texas on Friday. He said he will get some rest and then plan ahead. Already on the drawing board is the 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia.
“Oh, the SEA Games,” he said.
“Definitely I want to break my 100 meter record. I want to break my 400 meter record. I want to break the record in the four by four. I want the gold in the four by one. I have four events and it’s just the stepping stone for the Asian Games in 2018.
“After that I want to get ready for 2020. I still got it in my heart and mind that I’m going to go to 2020.
“The past two years was like the beginning for me. I’ll be ready for 2020 and I’m going to do great,” he furthered.
He said that being in his first Olympics has been such an opportunity. He said he’d been in constant touch with his Filipina mother, who’s also based in Texas, during his Olympic run, and was sure that his family was cheering for him thousands of miles away.
“I’m just grateful for everybody.”
“Being in the Olympics is the biggest thing for a track and field athlete. It’s still the number one sporting event in the world and it’s just every four years so when it comes around you got to go,” Cray concluded.
