Patafa bets in high spirits
MANILA, Philippines — “We’re ready.”
This was how Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association secretary-general Edward Kho described the readiness of their 16-strong team to the 19th Asian Games athletics competition starting Friday at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Expo Center.
Spearheaded by World pole vault No. 2 EJ Obiena, the Nationals will go all out to snare the country’s first medal since Elma Muros-Posadas snatched a women’s long jump bronze in the 1994 Hiroshima Games.
Two-time Southeast Asian Games gold winner Kristina Knott will be the first to plunge into action as the Fil-Am sprinter from Orlando competes in the 100-meter dash Friday.
She is also scheduled to race in the 200m Sunday.
Obiena, the Asian champion and record-holder, wades into battle Saturday in the event he is expected to dominate and end the country’s decades-long medal drought in athletics.
Robyn Brown, a World Championships veteran who struck gold in the women’s 400m hurdles in last July’s Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, will go for gold in the same event Tuesday.
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