John Cabang Tolentino, who recently smashed the existing national record in the indoor 60-meter hurdles’ event, will have a chance to continue pursuing his elusive dream of qualifying in the Paris Olympics.
Tolentino will join another Olympic hopeful in Janry Ubas in the 11th Asian Indoor Athletic Championships in Tehran, Iran, slated on February 17 to 19.
Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association secretary general Jasper Tanhueco said this is one of the competitions which will get Tolentino and Ubas ready for the coming outdoor season and the qualification process for the Olympics.
“We are looking for competitions for them. Both will compete and are currently in a good position to qualify on the road to Paris especially Janry. So let’s hope they will have a good performance this competition,” said Tanhueco, who spoke of Tolentino’s good chances during the recent 2023 Philippine Sportswriters’ Awards Night.
The 22-year-old, Spain-based Tolentino showed the good shape that he is in when he eclipsed the Philippine record in the Euskadi Indoor meet in San Sebastian.
Tolentino won the gold medal 7.73 seconds, which was better than the 7.86 seconds of Eric Cray in the Cherry and Silver meet in Albuquerque back in 2014.
During that meet, Tolentino finished ahead of Oscar Urdanoz (8.18) and Daniel San Juan (8.19).
Over the weekend, on Jan. 27, Tolentino won the gold in the Astana Indoor meet in Kazakhstan with a time of 7.99 meters, some 2/10ths of second short of the Philippine mark he shattered two weeks ago.
He is within the quota ranking of possible Olympic qualifiers at no. 31 out of a possible 40 who can make the cut to the Paris Games after joining 12 competitions, including the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games.
Joining these meets have earned Tolentino a total of 1199 points, and a world ranking of 58.
For Tolentino to make it to the Paris, he has to stay within the quota ranking of 40 until July, or hit the entry standard of 13.27 seconds.
