By MARK REY MONTEJO
Fil-Moroccan runner Yacine Guermali made his debut on local soil very memorable, winning the gold medal in the 5000 meters with nary a trouble in the Philippine Athletic Championships at the PhilSports Track Oval in Pasig City.
Despite racing in a crowded field of 58 entries in the wee hours on Wednesday, Guermali still managed to break free as he outsmarted and overpowered his rivals on the way to nailing his first win in his mother’s country and the first gold medal of the event.
His relatives from Solano, Nueva Vizcaya jumped and shouted in jubilation the moment he crossed the finish line by his lonesome in 14 minutes and 18.83 seconds.
“This (win) was as much for them as for me,” said the former Gonzaga University athletic mainstay, who finally pulled away with about six laps remaining in the lung-busting race.
PH team member Sonny Wagdos settled for second in 14:54.95 but conceded defeat when Guermali started to make his move. Spectrum Runners’ Noli Torre got the bronze in 15:05.
Despite winning the race pulling away, Guermali needs a lot of catching up since his personal best event is 13:33 and the Olympic entry standard is 13:05.
“I have a couple of races and I’m gonna make sure my ranking is high as [Olympics] required,” said Guermali.
Guermali and other PH athletics hopefuls will have until July 7 to improve their performances if they are to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Sharing the limelight was another Olympic hopeful and 32nd Cambodia SEAG gold medalist Janry Ubas.
Ubas set a target of 7.83 meters and he did it exactly as planned – thanks to coach Darry de Rosas.
“Okay na sa akin yung 7.83 kasi ang target namin ni coach Darry yung 7.80 meters para makakuha ng mataas na Olympic ranking points,” said Ubas, who set the national mark of 8.08 meters on the way to the silver medal in the men’s decathlon in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh last year.
32nd Cambodia SEAG siver medalist Gennah Malapit, 17, had to settle for silver in the women’s Under-20 javelin throw with a 33.08 behind Adamson University’s Elizabeth Sicat (33.35).
