Outstanding homegrown track and field talents will share the spotlight in the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships, presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, which unfolds on Saturday at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas, Tarlac.
Leading the local charge are 33rd Southeast Asian Games men’s decathlon champion Hokett delos Santos and men’s 800-meter gold medalist Hussein Loraña in the meet organized by Philippine Athletics and co-presented by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority and New Clark City.
Also expected to figure prominently are Asian Beach Games men’s high jump gold medalist Leonard Grospe and back-to-back SEA Games men’s 110-meter hurdles champion Clinton Kingsley Bautista in the five-day meet, which is also supported by CEL Logistics and United Asia Automotive Group.
Steeplechaser Juniel Gobotia, who bagged silver in the New Taipei Athletics Open in Chinese Taipei over the weekend with a time of 9:15.39, will also be in action as he battles for honors in the country’s premier track fest.
(C) POC-PSC Media Group
“The ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships is our centerpiece event featuring the cream that our country has to offer in track and field,” said Philippine Athletics president Terry Capistrano.
“This is also a platform where our national athletes can test their mettle against some of the best in the region, as well as from other parts of the world, in a world-class venue,” Capistrano added, referring to the World Athletics-accredited arena.
He also noted that the five-day meet, backed by Pocari Sweat, Clark Water, Energya, Masiv Sports, and Wireless Technologies as communications and internet provider, has drawn 1,015 entries from 10 countries.
Regional neighbor Malaysia was the latest nation to confirm participation and will field five athletes in the women’s Open division.
The other participating countries are Chinese Taipei, Canada, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the United States, Samoa, Singapore, South Korea, and host Philippines.
PSC chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio, a strong advocate of sports tourism, welcomed the strong foreign participation, saying it highlights Filipino hospitality.
“We welcome their participation in the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships with open arms and hope they stay a bit longer after the meet to enjoy the sights, sounds, and other attractions that our country has to offer,” Gregorio said.
The meet kicks off early Wednesday morning with three finals—the men’s 5,000-meter run, women’s javelin throw Open, and Under-18 women’s shot put.
Among the featured contests in the afternoon is the men’s Open pole vault finals, where 33rd SEA Games bronze medalist Elijah Cole and delos Santos, who began his career as a pole vaulter before transitioning to the decathlon, could figure in a battle for the gold.
Paris Olympic Games veteran Lauren Hoffman is the top favorite in her specialty, the women’s Open 400-meter hurdles, which is also set in the afternoon.
