Knott lays out PH championships targets
Tokyo Olympian Kristina Marie “KK” Knott knows exactly what her plans are for the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championship 2025.
First, she plans on resetting her Philippine records. Then she hopes to sew up her spot in the national team for upcoming international events. And she hopes to achieve both in front of her countrymen.
“I’m eager to showcase my talent right in our country and hopefully I could break my records as well,” said Knott, who holds the national standard in the women’s 100m (11.27 seconds) and 200m (23.01 seconds).
The championships will be held from May 1 to May 4 at New Clark City in Tarlac and dominating there would cement Knott’s participation in the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September and the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in December.
“Those two tournaments (World Championships and SEA Games) are definitely high on the list this year,” said Knott.
The two-time SEA Games gold medalist will join 51 other national pool members in the national championships, including Paris Olympians John Cabang Tolentino and Lauren Hoffman.
“[W]inning in our national championships will earn them ranking points that will aid them to qualify to the world championship,” said national coach Dario De Rosas during the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum on Tuesday.
Over 800 athletes are expected to sign up in the national open organized by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) and backed by CEL Logistics, including 60 foreign tracksters from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, India and Taiwan.
Likewise confirmed for this year’s championships are SEA Games long-jump king Janry Ubas, Asian champion hurdler Robyn Brown, high jump record-holder Leonard Grospe, middle-distance runner Hussein Loraña and SEA Games shot put champion William Morrison.
“Bringing together local and overseas-based athletes raises the level of competition and helps build a stronger, deeper national pool for Philippine athletics,” said Patafa secretary general Jasper Tanhueco.
Several newbies in the national team are bound to show up, including long-distance runner Yacine Guermali, homegrown sprinter Kharis Pantonial, discus thrower Daniela Daynata and high jumper Mariel Abuan.
“Almost all the members of the national pool will compete, except for EJ (Obiena) because of the Diamond League in China that will run in conflict with the Philippine championships,” said Tanhueco.
