Cray vows to redeem self in sprint, hurdles

KUALA LUMPUR – Fil-American Eric Cray has moved on from his debacle in the recent world track and field championships in London and vowed to redeem himself in the 29th Southeast Asian Games where he is defending two titles.

Cray looked none the worse despite a 17-hour flight from the United States and ready to write a new chapter to his career.

“I feel great. I come here to win and get ready for the Asian Games next year,” said Cray who arrived at the stroke of midnight.

He made fun of himself following his false start that disqualified him in the 400-meter heat in London.

“I got a lot of messages from friends. They wrote a lot of trash,” smiled Cray.

“I was pumped up, overly excited. I thought I leaned a little lower in the starting block. That probably caused me to lose balance,” said Cray who ruled the 100 and 400-meter hurdles in 2015.

“Truth is, I wanted to cry,” Cray recalled. “I threw away months of training.”

His focus is now on the 400 meter hurdles where he’s hoping to improve on his best time of 48.9 seconds.

Nobody can touch Cray in the event. “My nearest rival is about two seconds away. That’s about 40 meters,” he said.

The century dash, however, is another matter.

Set 30 minutes after the 400-meter hurdles, Cray said he had little to recover, but will go for the gold medal just the same.

He admitted, however, that he did not train for the 100 as extensively as his pet event.

Cray is also a member of the 4 x 100-meter relay squad.

— REY BANCOD