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After protracted layoff, PH track and field team returns to training

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Manolo Pedralvez

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Mark Demayo and Czar Dancel, ABS-CBN News/file" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/10/10/track-field.jpg"/><figcaption>Javelin thrower Melvin Calano (from left), marathoner Christine Hallasgo, and decathlete Aries Toledo each won gold in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Mark Demayo and Czar Dancel, ABS-CBN News/file</figcaption></figure></div>After a layoff of 18 months, Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association training director Renato Unso fears that the locally based national athletes face a tough challenge of duplicating their successful campaign at the 30th Philippines Southeast Asian Games when they compete at the 31st Vietnam SEA Games rescheduled next May.“If you were to ask me personally, it would be hard to match our performance in the SEA Games two years ago,” said Unso of the 11 gold, 8 silver and 8 bronze medals of the Filipino campaigners, who wound up third overall among the 8 countries who saw action in the sport. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/11/19/sea-games-ph-track-and-field-hits-pay-dirt-with-11-gold-27-total-medals">SEA Games: PH track-and-field hits pay dirt with 11 gold, 27 total medals</a></li></ul>Even more remarkable, 7 homegrown athletes were responsible for those 6 mints, among them Clinton Bautista in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, decathlete Aries Toledo, javelin thrower Melvin Calano, heptathlete Sarah Dequinan, and marathoner Christine Hallasgo.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/10/19/sea-games-show-of-strength-as-phs-aries-toledo-tops-mens-decathlon">SEA Games: Show of strength, as PH’s Aries Toledo tops men’s decathlon</a></li></ul>Sprinters Anfernee Lopena and Eloiza Luzon also joined hands with US-based Filipinos Eric Cray and Kristina Knott in ruling the 4x100-meter mixed relay race in the SEA Games trackfest held at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas town, Tarlac. “Kasi noon tuloy-tuloy ang training. Eh ngayon nagsisimula pa lang tayo. ’Yong Vietnam matagal na nag-umpisa ’yon. Thailand ganu’n din, even Indonesia. (At that time, we were training non-stop. Now we will be just starting. I believe Vietnam started training early. Same with Thailand and Indonesia),” Unso said.The athletes have not had actual workouts since March 2020 when all sports activities were stopped by national authorities to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.PATAFA president Philip Ella Juico has vainly tried to resume actual training for the national athletes as far back as October 2020 for approval by the Inter-Agency Task Force overseeing the pandemic, only to be turned down as the virus cases dramatically rose.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/10/19/sea-games-for-fourth-time-eric-cray-is-400-hurdles-champion">SEA Games: For fourth time, Eric Cray is 400 hurdles champion</a></li></ul>According to Australia-based coach Andrew Pyrie, a former Philippine Sports Commission statistician who runs the pinoyathletics.info website, Indonesia was conducting its ongoing National Games.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/09/19/sea-games-melvin-calano-gives-philippines-javelin-throw-title">SEA Games: Melvin Calano gives Philippines javelin-throw title</a></li></ul>Juico echoed Unso’s sentiments, saying: “I honestly don’t know if we can match our strong SEA Games performance in 2019 until we see how our athletes are doing during training.”Unso said this was why the resumption of training of the national team in Baguio City this week would be pivotal in gauging the actual fitness and conditioning of the local athletes after their prolonged period of inactivity.With the approval of the Baguio City government led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong and funding from the Philippine Sports Commission, he said that 36 athletes and 11 coaches will begin moving to their training camp in the country’s summer capital starting on Sunday on a staggered basis.“All of the athletes and coaches who will join training camps will be swabbed for COVID-19 before entering the training bubble and those who test positive will be unable to join us,” Unso said. “Mayor Magalong has been very cooperative and even willing to provide us with transport from Manila.”He added that the athletes and coaches will be arriving separately, “because some of them have not been fully vaccinated so we advised them to get them first before going up to Baguio, while others will be coming from the Visayas and Mindanao.”He said that the athletes and coaches will be training at the Baguio City Athletic Bowl and quartered at a nearby hostel, adding they will also make regular visits at the PSC facility inside the Teachers Camp for fitness and conditioning.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/06/19/sea-games-hallasgo-pulls-off-suprise-beats-tabal-for-phs-1-2-finish-in-marathon">SEA Games: Hallasgo pulls off suprise, beats Tabal for PH&#x27;s 1-2 finish in marathon</a></li></ul>“We wanted the entire members in the national pool training pool there because while we will be there only until mid-December, we believe that this will be extended after the Christmas break so we can intensify our training for the Vietnam SEA Games,” Unso explained.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/12/07/19/sea-games-hail-phs-new-sprint-queen-as-kristina-knott-wins-gold">SEA Games: Hail to PH’s new sprint queen, as Kristina Knott wins gold</a></li></ul>Juico said he was eyeing the National Open to be held in Baguio from December 12 to 15 to cap the training of the athletes and which will also serve as tryouts of the national team for the Vietnam SEA Games.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1797375	" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The national track and field team head into their first training camp in more than 18 months aware they are behind their Southeast Asian rivals.