Cray breezes to 400 meter hurdles semis in Asian meet

MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asian Games king Eric Cray breezed his way into the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles by topping one of four qualifying heats yesterday in the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 34-year-old eight-time SEA Games gold medalist clocked 50.39 seconds in topping Heat 2 and claiming a spot in the 16-man semis, which was being run at press time.

Cray should go all out for a better time in the semis that would hopefully catapult him to today’s finale for a chance to reclaim the gold he last sniped in the 2017 edition in Bhubaneswar, India.

Or, if the stars align, Cray could meet the 2024 Paris Olympics standard of 48.70, which is not far-fetched considering he once ran 48.98 in Madrid, Spain seven years ago.

If not, Cray has the whole year to achieve the feat and join world No. 3 pole-vaulter EJ Obiena in the greatest sports show on the planet.

Apart from Cray, long jumper Janry Ubas is the other Filipino hoping to make the Olympic cut.

The SEA Games gold winner was likewise competing as of this writing.

Ubas could go for the Paris standard of 8.27m or earn enough ranking points by joining qualifying tournaments to climb the ranks and claim a ticket to Paris.