Guermali breaks own 3000m mark

Yacine Guermali reset the men’s national 3,000-meter record anew after clocking seven minutes and 46.62 seconds in the Seiko Golden Grand Prix on Sunday in Tokyo.

Guermali, 26, surpassed his previous time of 7:51.19 set in 2024 at the Gyulai István Memorial in Székesfehérvár, Hungary.

The Filipino-Moroccan distance runner finished eighth out of 16 participants in this World Athletics Continental Tour Gold-level series.

Guermali will have a tough schedule ahead of him as he joins two more tournaments in June, starting with the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships in New Clark City in Tarlac from 10 to 14 June as he defends his 5000m gold.

Also expected to come home and compete in June are hurdlers Robyn Brown, Lauren Hoffman and John Caban as well as sprinter Kristina Knott.

He will also compete in the Korea Open in the same month as he further revs up for the 19th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan from 19 September to 4 October.  

If selected, Guermali hopes to have a better performance after settling for silver medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m events in the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Bangkok last December.

The Philippines looks to improve on its performance as pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena was the lone medalist for the country in athletics in the 19th Asiad in Hangzhou, China.