The race for valuable ranking points for the Paris Olympics heats up as the Philippine Athletics Championships unwraps on Wednesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Filipino-American sprinters Eric Cray and Kristina Knott banner the star-studded field of local and foreign tracksters who are expected to go all out to gain ranking points needed for the Summer Games starting 26 July.

Aside from Cray and Knott, who are both determined to book a return flight to the Olympics, also seeing action are Filipino-American sprinter Lauren Hoffman, Filipino-Spanish hurdler John Cabang and Asian champion Robyn Brown together with a slew of competitors from the national athletics squad.

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) secretary general Jasper Tanhueco said they are looking at six Filipino tracksters that have a chance of joining pole vaulter EJ Obiena in the French capital.

“It’s an Olympic qualifier and it serves to give points for our Olympic hopefuls. We are looking at six hopefuls: Kristina Knott, Janry Ubas, John Cabang, Lauren Hoffman, Robyn Brown and Eric Cray,” Tanhueco said.

“Since they’re representing the Philippines, we want them to be present also. Like what Coach Jeoffrey Chua said, it’s also to inspire the new generation of athletes to watch and compete with their idols.”

Knott and Hoffman will be the standard after winning gold medals in the Hong Kong Athletics Championship at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground over the weekend.

Knott clocked in 11.52 seconds in the women’s 100-meter event for the gold medal while Hoffman registered a time of 57.15 seconds in the women’s 400m hurdles for the title with Brown taking the silver medal after a time of 55.72 seconds.

Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Ubas took home the bronze in the men’s long jump after tallying 7.61m, making him a marked man in the prestigious annual trackfest that is making a return to Metro Manila after being held for the past couple of years in Ilagan City in Isabela.

Patafa said to avert the scorching summer sun, action is set from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. before taking a break and resuming at 3 p.m.