NATIONAL team member Richard Salano will test his will and endurance against two Fil-Americans at the start of the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships 2024 today at the Philsports track oval in Pasig.
The early morning race will see Salano taking on national record holder Yacine Guermali and newcomer AJ Ricketts in the opening event of the men’s 5000-meter run.
In preparing for the national meet, Salano skipped the men’s 42-km of the recent MILO Marathon’s Manila leg and won the title when he joined the shorter 21-km event.
And he now looks forward to his coming showdown with Guermali, who owns the national marks in the men’s 1500-meter and 5000-meter events since 2021.
“Ayos ito. Mas maganda (race) dahil mahahatak ko ang time ko,” said Salano in an interview with the Manila Standard.
Four gold medals will be up grabs in the early morning activities, which includes the women’s open discus throw, the girls’ under-18 shotput and the men’s open long jump.
For Guermali, this will be his chance to move up in the world rankings, and give him opportunities for Olympic qualification in the future, with the Philippine Athletic Track and Field Association offering IAAF points in the annual trackfest.
Early this year, Guermali set a third national mark during the first time that he raced in the indoor event of the men’s 1000-meter run.
“It was a good effort. It helped in my training and build up for my main events,” said Guermali, the 24-year-old Fil-Morrocan student athlete who just graduated from Gonzaga University.
Ricketts, a student-athlete from Pensacola, Florida, also seeks a podium in the company of Guermali and Salano, right on his first time competing in the Philippines.
Four other Fil-American standouts will also compete for medals with local athletes, with Angel Frank and Danae Manibog set to compete in the women’s 400-meter run, later in the day, and with Elijah Cole battling for top honors in the men’s pole vault with Enzo Sison.
Early morning action in the Philippine Athletics Championship will go on as early as 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday due to extreme summer weather conditions. Hostilities stop at around 11 a.m., resume by 3 p.m. and halt finally at 8 p.m.
This is the Philippine Open’s biggest turnout to date, with 1,255 athletes registered to compete for podium finishes.
A total of 26 gold medals will be at stake throughout the day, with four on the line in the morning.
With pole vault star Ernest John Obiena absent, national athletes based here and abroad will make their presence felt in the five-day meet, which will have World Athletic points, Olympic qualification slots and ranking points at stake.