Published July 23, 2021, 8:00 AM
1.
EJ OBIENA (athletics) – Obiena, 25, became the first Filipino athlete to qualify to the Tokyo Olympics after hitting the Olympic pole vault standard of 5.81 meters in a Pole Vault meet in Chiara, Italy in 2019. Ranked No. 10 in the world, Obiena has significantly improved his season best to 5.87m at a Polish event early July, which also resets the national outdoor record. He finished fourth at the Bauhaus-Galan Wanda Diamond League Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden last July 4 – a tournament that served as a preview of the Olympics. He has been based in Formia, Italy for the past years, training under Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov.
Rower Nievarez qualifies to the quarters; Yulo, Petecio, Barbosa in big debuts
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Rower Nievarez launches PH campaign
mb.com.ph - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mb.com.ph Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published July 20, 2021, 8:59 AM
Magnum Mebrere (MB Photo)
TOKYO Magnum Membrere, the former Ateneo Blue Eagle sharpshooter, polished off his breakfast omelet, answered a few questions, allowed two quick photos and was off to watch national rower Cris Nievarez in practice early Sunday at the Sea Forest Waterway in Koto City.
Nievarez, 21, will compete for a berth in the final of the men’s single sculls on July 23, Friday, a few hours before the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympic Games opens at the multi-billion Olympic Stadium without fanfare, without spectators and without any guarantee the most stringent health protocols ever enforced in a major sporting event will not result in a super-spreader disaster.
Published July 10, 2021, 1:50 PM
Photo from Cris Nievarez’s Facebook account
Rower Cris Nievarez admitted to feeling the pressure of being the first athlete in the Philippine team to see action in the Tokyo Olympics late this month.
Nievarez will debut in the men’s single sculls heats in the morning of July 23, a few hours before the grandest stage in sports is formally opened.
“Yung pressure andun po pero sanay na po tayo dun,” Nievarez told
Manila Bulletin.
The 21-year-old Atimonan, Quezon native, however, sees this schedule as a blessing since there would be a number of elimination races until it reaches the Final 6 for the medal race.