Bronze starts countdown for LA

NAGOYA – The clock said 13.48. Season-best. Bronze. History.

But for John Cabang Tolentino, the night at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium didn’t end when the time flashed. It started a new countdown – to Los Angeles 2028.

Three years ago in Hangzhou, he was fourth – one spot off the podium. On Sunday night at Aichi-Nagoya 2026, Cabang Tolentino finally broke through, running 13.48 to capture bronze in the men’s 110m hurdles behind China’s Chen Yuanjiang (13.15 gold) and Japan’s Rachid Muratake (13.29 silver).

It ended a 72-year wait for a Filipino male to reach the Asian Games hurdles podium and the first Philippine hurdles medal of any kind since Elma Muros in the women’s 400m hurdles in 1990.

For Cabang Tolentino, it was the starting block.

“I’m gonna go for LA Olympics,” said Cabang Tolentino, eyeing a follow-up to his Paris Games run.

If Tolentino is dreaming of LA, Philippine athletics is pushing him there.

“Yes, it’s been some time that we have been waiting for a podium finish by John in a far bigger arena than the SEA Games which he did gold. All the hard work paid off and hopefully can proceed to the next level,” said PATAFA president Terry Capistrano.

Capistrano doesn’t see Nagoya as a culmination, but as validation – that the investment from the heartbreak of Hangzhou, to the SEA Games record, to this historic Asiad bronze, can scale to the world level.

The podium in Nagoya ended a wait. The push to LA will define a legacy.