EXPECTATIONS will be high on pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena and his Filipino teammates, led by sprinter Kyla Richardson, long jumper Janry Ubas and the 400-meter relay teams in the women and mixed events during the coming 25th Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.
A big chunk of the pressure has been taken off Obiena since he has already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after he leapt to a 5.82-meter qualifying mark in Sweden on July 3.
With this, some of the spotlight is now on the 25-year-old Richardson, the 2021 Southeast Asian Games Sprint Queen, who will compete in the women’s 100-and 200-meter races.
Richardson was ranked behind China’s Liang Xiao Jing last year with her personal best of 11.31 seconds. She timed 12.4 seconds during the recent Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, where she failed to defend her crown.
Richardson is at no. 3 in the 200-meters with her 2022 personal best of 23.12 seconds, ahead of Mei Kodama of Japan (23.26 seconds).
Also getting the brunt of the pressure is the relay team of Bernalyn Bejoy, Robyn Brown, Jessel Lumapas and Maureen Schrijvers, who set a new Philippine record of 3:37.75 during the SEA Games in Phnom Penh.
Bejoy and Lumapas will also be in the mixed relay team with Joyme Sequita, who was part of the gold-winning 4×400 relay team in the SEAG.
Members of the 34-member national squad start leaving today for Bangkok.
Obiena recently bagged a silver medal in the Meeting International de Sotteville held in Rouen, France last Saturday.
He cleared 5.72 meters on a single attempt, after skipping the first four heights.
Action starts on Wednesday at the Supachalasai National Stadium, Bangkok in Thailand.
Fil-American sprinter Eric Cray is also coming, along with long jumper Janry Ubas, and both are seeking Olympic qualifications through the points that they will earn.
Cray, an eight-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, seeks to hit the Olympic standard of 48.70 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles.
Ubas, who secured the SEA Games’ long jump gold, with a 7.85-meter jump, hopes to reach the height of 8.25 to make qualification.
