New Clark City hosts track meet

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) has teamed up with the Bases Conversation and Development Authority (BCDA) in staging the Ayala Philippine Athletics Championships, which was reset from next month to March next year at the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

Pending the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), the annual event is scheduled from March 19-21 at the same venue where the national track and field team harvested 11 gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, helping the host country win the overall title.

“It is in New Clark City where we made history, where we won as one, where our athletics team bagged the most number of gold medals for the Philippines among any Olympic sports,” said BCDA president and chief executive officer Vince Dizon.

“The Olympic qualifiers will be a great opportunity for them not just to relive those winning moments, but to show the sports community that we can restart safely,” he added.

PATAFA president Philip Ella Juico bared plans to send members of the national pool to a two-month training camp starting January in a bubble set-up at the massive Capas venue.