JOHN Cabang Tolentino secured a bronze medal in the men’s 110-meter hurdles of the 20th Asian Games athletics competition on Sunday at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.
Tolentino won his first Asiad medal with a season-best 13.48 seconds, three years after placing fourth in Hangzhou and missing a podium finish by just 0.12 seconds.
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The medal by the Paris Olympian was also the Philippines’ first in an Asiad track event since Elma Muros' bronze in the 400m hurdles in 1990 in Beijing.
In between, the Philippines only won medals in field events - another bronze by Muros in the long jump in 1994 in Hiroshima and gold by EJ Obiena in the pole vault in 2023 in Hangzhou.
Yuanjuang Chen of China got the gold with a time of 13.15 seconds, with Rachid Murtake of Japan coming in second at 13.29.
Tolentino ranked third after Saturday’s heats with a clocking of 13.58, his season best before he surpassed it again in the final on Sunday.
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