NO PRESSURE: Patafa wants Cabang, Hoffman to perform well

The Philippines Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) is tempering its expectations on hurdlers John Cabang and Lauren Hoffman in the Paris Olympics.

Patafa chief Terry Capistrano said the federation would like to see Cabang and Hoffman, who just earned their tickets to the Summer Games, perform at their best without the pressure of landing a podium finish.

Cabang will be competing in the men’s 110-meter hurdles while Hoffman is set to run in the women’s 400-m hurdles. They will join top pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena in Paris.

“We will let the games begin and let them do their jobs. I’m not going to pressure these athletes, and for me to predict that they should be on the podium or not. I don’t want to add any more pressure on these young men and women,” Capistrano said.

“He (Cabang) made the Olympics. I mean, it’s not that easy, you know, making it to the Olympics. Lauren Hoffman is good for another Olympic cycle and she’ll probably get better when she hits 27 or 28.”

“I see quite a good, you know, a good place for Philippine athletics on the horizon.”

Obiena is the country’s best bet in athletics to clinch a medal following his impressive performance in different competitions leading up to the Olympics running from 26 July to 11 August.

Obiena is the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the Paris Games after hitting the standard of 5.82-meter in Sweden last year.

The Philippines tied the number of athletics bets fielded in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro bannered by Eric Cray, Mary Joy Tabal and Marestella Torres-Sunang.

Patafa allowed the three athletes to have their own teams apart from the staff provided by the Philippine Olympic Committee to be able to perform at their best.

“They will have their own individual coaches. Some of them will have their own physiotherapists, even psychologists, you know, and of course the coaches,” Capistrano said.

“All of them will have their coaches. If they don’t have a physiotherapist with them, quite a number is available in the village, in the Olympic village, as well as the Philippine camp in Metz.”