Road to Rio: Cray good for bronze medal?

Eric Shauwn Cray of the Philippines carries the flag after his gold medal at the 28th SEA Games Men’s 100m finals held at the National Stadium, Singapore Sports Hub. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

FROM now until the Olympics, hurdler Eric Cray has been working double time to beat the clock for a possible bronze medal in Rio De Janeiro.

The fastest man in Southeast Asia is just a fraction of a second away from reaching the podium in the men’s 400m hurdles in the Games with his 48.98-second clocking.

According to track and field benefactor Jim Lafferty, the target is at least 48.10 seconds for Cray to achieve the feat and break the country’s 20-year medal drought in the world’s biggest sports gathering.

“Cray could be good for a bronze, who knows?” said Philippine Amateur Track and Field president Philip Ella Juico during the general assembly of the Philippine Olympians Association recently at the Manila Golf and Country Club.

The three-time All-American who grew up in San Antonio, Texas, registered his personal best (48.98) in record-shattering fashion during the IAAF World Challenge held in Madrid, Spain last month.

Cray’s recent clocking eclipsed his own national record of 49.12 seconds and Southeast Asian Games record of 49.40 as the Filipino-American showed steady improvement since he qualified to the Rio Games early last year.

Also a gold medalist in the men’s 100m dash of the SEA Games, Cray will race in the heats beginning Aug. 15 at the Macarana Olympic Stadium.