At A Glance
- The future looks bright for Fil-Nigerian sprinter John Clinton Mitchel Abentong after bagging three gold medals to wrap up his debut at the 2024 ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships on Saturday evening, May 11.
The future looks bright for Fil-Nigerian sprinter John Clinton Mitchel Abentong after bagging three gold medals to wrap up his debut at the 2024 ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships on Saturday evening, May 11.

The 16-year-old Abentong, who is currently bannering the City of Sta. Rosa, set his new personal best and pocketed the gold medals in the U18 category where he timed in 11.05 seconds and 49.03 seconds in the boys’ 100m and 400m events, respectively, earlier in the tournament.
Coming in hot, Abentong joined hands with the Sta. Rosa squad in the boys’ 4x100m relay, clocking 44.72 seconds and enough to outshine Ateneo de Manila University (45.86) and Team Agoo (46.19) for his third gold Saturday night.
The Puerto Princesa native, who now lives in Dasmariñas, Cavite, believes that having great coaches helped him cope up in his journey as he targets a spot in the national team.
“Tuloy-tuloy lang po talaga ako ng training, and kung ano pong tinuturo ni coach in-aapply ko lang po sa field,” said Abentong, whose mother is an OFW in Dubai, UAE.
“I hope someday maging isa rin po akong [member] ng national team na lalaro sa mga international meets,” he added.
Abentong came close to winning his fourth gold but fell short in the boys’ 200m where he logged in 22.26 seconds for silver. DLSU-ANIMO’s Pi Durden Wangkay (22.18) topped the race while Pinoy Athletics’ Elreb Taduran (22.50) settled for bronze.
Meanwhile, elite Filipino athletes Mark Harry Diones (15.60 meters) and Ronne Malipay (15.35m) took the top two positions in the men’s triple jump event.
Seasoned runners in PH Army’s Richard Salaño (31:26.82) and Malaybalay City Bukidnon’s Christine Hallasgo (37:00.05) ruled the 10000 meters men’s and women’s open.