BATANG Pinoy standout Ivan Cabanda is headed to the 2026 World Junior Championships in Oregon.
Cabanda earn his spot in the national team after he made history clocking 52.99 seconds in the men’s 400-meter hurdles in the junior divison of the 88th University Athletic Association of the Philippines Athletics Championships on Sunday at the New Clark City Stadium in Capas, Tarlac
The 17-year-old Cabanda eclipsed the long-standing record of 54.78 seconds set by Jaime Mejia of University of the Philippines Integrated School on February 2, 2012, in Pasig.
Cabanda’s time went under the World Juniors qualifying standard of 53.00 seconds.
This made him the second Filipino to secure a slot for the global meet, after Naomi Cesar did in the 800-meter girls’ 2025 Asian Youth Games Championships.
He is set to represent the Philippines in the ASEAN School Games in Brunei and the ASEAN Youth Championships in Medan, Indonesia.
Cabanda’s great showing comes two weeks after winning two golds for Manila at the 2025 Batang Pinoy National Championships in General Santos City, also in record-breaking fashion.
The first gold came in the boys’ under-18 400m hurdles when Cabanda set a new meet record of 53.23 seconds, bettering another runner’s best time of 55.01 seconds last year.
The second mint was in the 110m hurdles when Cabanda hit a low time of 13.98 seconds, surpassing the old course mark of 14.25 seconds.
