Published July 23, 2021, 8:00 AM
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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.
Published July 2, 2021, 11:34 AM
Luke Gebbie (left) and Remedy Rule
Fil-foreign swimmers Luke Gebbie and Remedy Rule became the latest qualifiers to the Tokyo Olympics scheduled late this month after earning berths through universality places.
Philippine Swimming Inc. (PSI) President Lani Velasco announced this Friday, July 2, after the two emerged as the top-ranked male and female tankers of the national team based from their International Swimming Federation (FINA) points this year.
Gebbie has 828 FINA points in the men’s 100-meter freestyle while Rule has 830 FINA points in the women’s 200m butterfly.
The Fil-Kiwi Gebbie, who won one silver and one bronze at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, will compete in the 50m and 100m free while Rule, a Fil-Am who pocketed three silver and two bronzes in the previous SEAG, will battle in the 200m fly and 200m free events.