POLE VAULTER EJ Obiena and marathoner Mary Joy Tabal should get all the resources that they need to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
Athletics chief Philip Ella Juico said they’re mapping out the roads that these two silver medalists in the recent Southeast Asian Games in Singapore should take to reach the biggest gathering of the world’s top athletes next year.
According to Juico, president of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association, Obiena and Tabal should go through a series of foreign exposures to achieve their Olympic dream in the company of Eric Cray.
After meeting the Olympic standard of 50 seconds flat in the 400m hurdles in a race held in Cayman Island, Cray earned the distinction as the first Filipino to punch a ticket to the 2016 Olympiad.
“We’re preparing a program for him (Cray), Tabal and EJ (Obiena),’’ said Juico. “I think Mary Joy and EJ can also make it to the Olympics.’’
Cray won the men’s 100m dash and even broke the SEA Games record in the 400m hurdles.
The 26-year-old Filipino-American is now seventh in the world rankings after clocking 49.12 seconds in the hurdles during the Cayman Invite in Cayman Islands on May 16.
Tabal, a former triathlete and Cebu’s running queen, clocked 3:04:39, one minute and 14 seconds slower than women’s marathon gold medalist Natthaya Thanaronnawat while the Obiena, son of Filipino pole vault icon Emerson Obiena, cleared 5.25 meters and placed second behind Thailand’s Porranot Purahong’s SEA Games record of 5.30.
Patafa secretary general Renato Unso said they would join Cray in the track and field world championships in Wuhan, China late August.
Also joining them is long-jumper Marestella Torres, who, despite ending up with the bronze in Singapore, will be making a bid for her third Olympics through the help of businessman Jim Lafferty. She needs to register at least 6.70 meters on her Olympic bid.
Unso said Obiena, who is being prepared to train again in the Fornia, Italy, has to clear the Olympic standard of 5.40 meters to book a slot while Tabal should finish the 42.195-kilometer race inside two hours and 40 minutes to qualify.