Juico wins ‘gold medal’

The just-concluded world athletics championship in Beijing was riveting. Usain Bolt won the 100m and 200m and shared the gold in the 4x100m. He was the certified superstar of the event which featured the world’s fastest runners, highest jumpers and longest throwers.

The Philippines was represented by just one athlete. His name is Eric Cray. Nobody knows him except perhaps by those who follow sports religiously, track and field specifically. But he’s one of the FilipinoAmericans recruited by the track and field association last year to compete for the Philippines in the Southeast Asian Games. There were not enough worthy home-grown athletes so Cray and a few others came in.

The gamble somehow paid off. Cray won two gold medals. One in the 400m hurdles, his favorite event, the other in the 100m, where he was a last-minute entry.

In the worlds, he competed only in the 400m hurdles. He, however, was completely out of his league in this event and finished sixth among eight runners in his heat.

But we have a gold medal winner. And that goes to track and field president Philip Juico for saying that he had expected Cray to make it to the finals of the 400m hurdles.

Where Juico got the idea that his man Cray was a potential finalist and maybe, a medalist, in the hurdles is unknown. But his faith in Cray was a golden moment. He trusted the guy to deliver. To illustrate this faith, he had booked return tickets two days after the finals of the hurdles.

But Juico’s dream quickly evaporated on a steamy evening when Cray was left eating dust, failing even to match his personal best of 49.12 seconds. He had clocked 50.04.

A day after the race, both Cray and Juico went their separate ways. Cray flew to his Texas home town, and Juico to Manila where, immediately after he arrived, asked the Philippine Sports Commission to provide Cray at least $100,000 for training and personal expenses to prepare for the Rio Olympics next year where he has qualified.

The Beijing event showed Cray will never be a world class athlete. If he is, or will be, there’s no doubt the US athletics team would have recruited him, not the Philippine team.

But Cray can be an asset for the Philippines in the SEA Games, and maybe, in the Asian Games. At the Olympics, we doubt he’ll be a factor there although the Rio experience may make him a tough Asian competitor.

How much the PSC would be willing to spend for that experience remains to be seen.

But here’s a toast to Juico’s “gold medal.”