At A Glance
- Team Philippines kicked off its campaign on a good note after clinching a bronze medal in the opening day of the inaugural Asian U23 Athletics Championships at the Sport Development Center Stadium in Ordos, China Thursday, July 9.
(Philippine Athletics, Inc.)
Team Philippines kicked off its campaign on a good note after clinching a bronze medal in the opening day of the inaugural Asian U23 Athletics Championships at the Sport Development Center Stadium in Ordos, China Thursday, July 9.
With Naomi Johnson making her national team debut, the Nationals, composed of Hussein Loraña, Jazzpeer Arcenal, and Lea Ordinario, powered their way to the podium of the 4x400m Mixed Relay event by clocking their personal best of 3 minutes and 25.28 seconds.
India (3:18.64) and host China (3:18.74) captured the gold and silver medals, respectively.
“Bronze for Team Philippines! This is a promising young team! Tomorrow, our athletes return to the track for their individual events. Laban Pilipinas,” Philippine Athletics, Inc. wrote on its social media post.
Loraña, last year’s Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in men's 800 meters, guns for his second medal in his pet event Friday night, while Mariel Abuan looks to steal the show in women's high jump final.
Also competing for the Nationals this Friday are Arcenal (men’s 400m hurdles), and Johnson, Ordinario, and Kharis Pantonia vying for a spot in the women’s 400m final.
Edna Magtubo tries to test her luck in the women’s 3000m steeplechase later and women’s 10000m on Saturday, July 11.
Under the tutelage of coaches Isidro Del Prado and Bonifacio Loraña, the 8-strong Filipino team, aside from winning medals, is taking part in the four-day meet to bolster their skills and be fully prepared for high-level tournaments in the future.