Three make it to Budapest

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will be represented by pole vaulter EJ Obiena and 400m hurdlers Eric Cray and Robyn Brown at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Aug. 19-27 in a landmark breakthrough as it’s the first time the country is participating in the biennial event with more than two athletes.

In the last five editions, only a single athlete wore the national colors. Isidro del Prado and Lydia de Vega competed in the Philippines’ World Championships debut in Helsinki in 1983. Cray, 34, is making his fourth world appearance and made the 40-man cut for Budapest in the “Next Best” category. He was ranked No. 46 in the latest standings but with pullouts and the limit of three athletes for every country, moved up to book a ticket.

“Eric was able to amass enough points to barge into the top 40,” said PATAFA secretary-general Edward Kho. “The cutoffs were different for specific events, like 40 for 400m hurdles, some 36, others 32. One reason why 400m hurdles figured well for our athletes was both Eric and Robyn worked hard and dedicated themselves to carve out their niche. They knew from the start what they wanted.” Cray qualified for the 400m hurdles final of the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok last month, finishing sixth with a time of 49.76, short of his national record of 48.98. In Budapest, he’ll compete in the heats on Aug 20 and if he makes it, the semis on Aug. 21 and final on Aug. 23. He’ll be accompanied by his wife and coach Samantha Sharper, a former star athlete at the University of Texas-El Paso and Eastern Michigan University.

Brown, 29, clinched an invite to Budapest by virtue of her gold medal finish at the recent Asian Athletics Championships. She starts her world campaign in the heats on Aug. 21 and if she qualifies, will compete in the semis on Aug. 22 and final on Aug. 24.  Sharper will double as her coach. Obiena, 27, will mark his third straight World Championships outing. The world No. 2 pole vaulter will jump in the qualifiers on Aug. 23 and final on Aug. 26. His team is made up of coach Vitaly Petrov, osteopath Antonio Guglietta and physiotherapist Francesco Viscusi.  They will fly in from their base in Italy. “It’s a huge achievement for PATAFA,” said Obiena, referring to the trio’s breakthrough. “PATAFA president Sir Terry (Capistrano) wants greatness out of us and lets our training have a platform to show. Eric, being the veteran he is, knew which competition he needed to go to for the best shot at qualifying and it showed.”