No podium for Philippine athletes

MANILA, Philippines — Pole vaulter EJ Obiena, 60m hurdler John Cabang Tolentino and 60m runners Jessica Laurance and Zion Corrales Nelson competed among the planet’s best in their events but while they wore the Philippine colors proudly, none made it to the podium at the World Athletics Indoor Championships that ended yesterday in Torun, Kujawy Pomerze, Poland. The consolation is their performance was an indication that they’ll go far in pursuit of medals at the Nagoya Asian Games this year.

Obiena, 30, cleared 5.50m and 5.70m with no difficulty but couldn’t crack 5.85m in three attempts. He wound up tied for ninth place of 12 with World No. 10 Chris Nilsen of the US. As expected, Sweden’s Armand Duplantis bagged the gold with a 6.25m jump, never missing an attempt at 5.50m, 5.85m, 6.00m, 6.10m and 6.15m while skipping bars at 5.70m, 5.95m, 6.05m and 6.20m. Obiena, now World No. 12, has jumped only up to 5.78m this year. There were three vaulters ranked below Obiena among the 12 competitors.

Cabang Tolentino, 24, finished No. 30 of 46 with a time of 7.77 seconds. He fell a rung short of making the semifinals, placing fourth of eight in his heat. Trey Cunningham of the US took the gold at 7.45 seconds. Four Asians clocked ahead of Tolentino with China’s Junxi Liu winding up No. 6 at 7.53, Japan’s Shusei Nomoto No. 9 at 7.57, China’s Yuanjiang Chen No. 15 at 7.64 and Chinese-Taipei’s Yi Kai Lin No. 27 at 7.73. Japan’s Ryota Fujii finished No. 34 at 7.81.

Laurance, 22, clocked 7.37 seconds to finish No. 37 of 51 while Corrales Nelson, 27, placed No. 42 at 7.44. Jamaica’s Brianna Lyston won the gold with a time of 7.06. Chinese-Taipei’s Yanjun Liao was the only Asian who finished ahead of Laurance and Corrales Nelson at No 34, clocking 7.34.

The four Philippine qualifiers booked their tickets to Poland by virtue of their world rankings and best efforts closest to the entry standards this season. Obiena flew in from his training base in Italy while Cabang Tolentino checked in from Spain, Laurance from Australia and Corrales Nelson from the US. They’re lined up to represent the country at the Nagoya Asian Games on Sept. 19-Oct. 4.