ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championship... FILAM GUERMALI IS NEW 5,000 M KING

PHILIPPINE passport holder Filipino-American Yacine Guermali celebrated the momentous occasion yesterday as he handily ruled the men's 5,000-meter race at the start of the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships at the Philsports oval in Pasig City.

Running in a field of 58 entries in the early morning race, Guermali bided his time and then expertly wove his way to the front in clocking 14 minutes and 18.33 seconds for his first victory in his mother's country of the meet organized by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association.

Way behind was national athlete Sonny Wagdos, a silver medalist in the event in the 2023 32nd Cambodia Southeast Asian Games, who clocked 14.54.86 while Cebuano Noli Torres in 15:05.00 settled for bronze in the competition backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, CEL Logistics and Milo.

"It is finally good to race in my mother's counry and in front of my other relatives. It feels great," said Guermali, 24, whose mother was born in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya and father Adam, now a US citizen, ran for the Moroccan national team.

"This (win) was as much for them as for me," said the former Gonzaga University athletic mainstay, who finally broke from the pack with about six laps remaining in the long race.

The new sensation in Philippine athletics said that he hoped this victory would be a stepping stone in rekindling his Olympic aspirations of representing the Philippines while acknowledging that it would be a huge challenge considering that his personal best in the event is 13:33 and the Olympic entry standard is 13:05.

Guermali,once a member of the national pool but was unable to race for the country for various reasons, credited FILAM Sports for enabling to come over and compete in the country's premier trackfest, which is sanctioned by World Athletics as an Olympic qualifying ranking event.

Wagdos, who timed 14:36.55 for silver in the Cambodia SEAG, said once Guermali surged to the front "hindi na ko nagtangkang sumunod sa kanya kasi baka ako malunod at marami pang tumatakbo."

Meanwhile,sharing the spotlight was Olympic hopeful and 32nd Cambodia SEAG gold medalist Janry Ubas dominated the men's long jump in 7.83 meters, meeting the target set by him and national coach Darry de Rosas.

Yacine Guermali (left) breaks away from the pack on the way to victory in the men's 5,000-meter race. (Menchie Salazar)