Patafa gives Cray green light to run

Eric Cray will be running in the 18th Asian Games, after all.

The Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (Patafa) reinstated Cray following an investigation caused by his failure to compete in an important international tournament early this month.

Patafa president Philip Ella Juico said the Texas-based sprinter already reached out to the federation to explain that he was forced to skip the Korean Open Athletics Championship due to financial problem.

The Korean Open is an integral part of Patafa’s Asian Games preparation.

Together with Trenten Beram, Anfernee Lopena and Clinton Bautista, Cray was supposed to see action in the men’s 4×100-meter relay in a bid to gain points that would justify their inclusion in the Asian Games in Jakarta in August.

But in a shocking development, Cray and Beram didn’t suit up, prompting Bautista and Lopena to skip the event.

Beram and his father, Glen, already talked to Juico and other Patafa officials to explain their side, saying that he had no choice but to skip the tourney due to fatigue brought by his back-to-back campaign in the US National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Ayala Philippine Athletics Championship in Ilagan City.

Juico gave Cray 10 days to explain before an ad hoc committee composed of Patafa vice president Nicanor Sering, secretary general Renato Unso and board member Jeanette Obiena.

Cray complied even before his deadline lapses.

“Yes, we’re already okay. Tomorrow is supposed to be his deadline, but he already submitted his explanation,” said Juico during the unveiling of the Vermosa Sport Hub in Imus City in Cavite.

The 800-hectare Vermosa will serve as the training hub of the track and field team as it features a nine-lane track oval that passed the standard of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF).

Juico said the federation understands where Cray is coming from.

“His allowance from the PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) was reduced so he was forced to look for another job. He had no choice since he has four children to feed. What can we do?”

“He said he needed more time to make arrangements on who will take care of the kids while he’s away. It’s a very complex issue brought by finances.”

With Cray back on board, Patafa will be fielding a solid team capable of bringing glory to a country that is looking to bounce back from a disastrous one-gold medal finish in the previous Asian Games in Incheon.

Beram will also suit up as well as former Olympians Marestella Torres and Mary Joy Tabal, miler Marco Vilog, triple jumper Mary Harry Diones, decathlete Aries Toledo and pole vault specialist EJ Obiena, who is slowly reaching his peak after crashing with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury last year.

Juico, however, is batting for the inclusion of five more athletes in Filipino-American sprinter Chistina Knot, hurdler Francis Medina, jumper Janry Ubas as well as Bautista and Lopena, who are being groomed to compete with Cray and Beram in the 4×100-meter relay.