PARIS, France — Jerrold Mangliwan looked to bury his painful setback in the previous edition when he competes in the men’s 400-meter T52 race in the Paris Paralympics at the sprawling Stade de France.

Mangliwan, 44, is set to compete in the heats on Friday at 5:13 p.m. (Manila time) for chance to advance to the finals at 1:14 a.m. on Saturday (Manila time).

At that time of his Paralympic Games failure in the Japanese capital, in which he was disqualified after entering the wrong line, Mangliwan recalled that the costly mistake could have been avoided had coach Bernard Buen, who was quarantined in Tokyo due to Covid-19, was by his side.

This time, Buen will be there to remind him how to race wisely and tactically that could finally earn him a Paralympic Games medal.

“Given Mangliwan’s experience three years ago, he already knows how to prevent it from happening,” Buen said.

The coach said catching up top Belgian favorite Maxime Carabin, who handily ruled the event on the same track at the world meet in 2023, was far-fetched but was optimistic that his prized ward was in the running for a bronze medal.

Mangliwan came from behind to win the event in a time one minute and .01.54 seconds in Hangzhou, surging past erstwhile frontrunner Ueyonabaru Hirota, a bronze medalist in the event in the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

“If Mangliwan keeps his presence of mind and follows our game plan to the letter, he has a good chance to win,” he said.