CAPAS, Tarlac — Fil-German race walker Nathaniel Seiler made a rousing introduction into the local track and field scene Thursday with a record-breaking debut in the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships presented by Philippine Sports Commission at the New Clark Athletic Stadium. 

Benefitting from an early-morning start, Seiler, who saw action for Germany in the 50-kilometer walk in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, smashed the 31-year-old record by nearly 54 seconds, erasing the old mark of 44 minutes and 22.08 seconds set by Sonny Diaz in the 1995  Chiang Mai Southeast Asian Hames with a winning time of 43:33.38 in the 10-km walk event.  

A discovery of former national race walker turned coach Saturnino Salazar, the 30-year-old native of Baden-Baden, Germany, whose personal best is 41.45 minutes, said “I slowed down somewhat when I was way ahead of the Indonesian and could have gone faster had I known the record that I was running after.” 

Arriving last Saturday and with Manila six hours ahead of Germany, the athlete was grateful that his one and only event happened early in the morning “because if had it been in the evening then I might have been too sleepy to perform well.”