Rule on multiple players per nation gives Kristina Knott a chance

Phil. Kristina Marie Knott wins Gold in the womens 200M run. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Kristina Knott is being considered as a strong aspirant for an Olympic spot after her record-shattering feat in the women’s 200 meters in the recent Southeast Asian Games, with that effort positioning the Filipino-American sprinter closer to the cutoff of the qualifying ranking for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has exclusively limited the number of Olympic qualifiers for the top 56 sprinters in the world and Knott, though she ranks 75th overall in the event, has a high probability of getting in.

A slew of American and Jamaican sprinters precede Knott in the world athletics rankings, giving the latter a big chance of joining pole vaulter EJ Obiena in Tokyo on July 24-Aug. 9 since the IAAF allows only three qualifiers for each event from the same country.

Based on the World Athletics website, 39 Americans and seven Jamaicans have posted faster times than Knott’s 23.01-second mark.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas has the fastest clocking of 21.74 seconds in the world for the women’s 200 meters, just a split second faster than Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain (21.88) and Elaine Thompson of Jamaica (22 seconds).

In the women’s 100 meters, 40 American sprinters are faster than Knott, who is ranked 92nd in the world. This also gives her a mathematical chance of snaring an Olympic berth in the century dash apart from the 200 meters.

Eric Cray will try his luck for a return trip in the men’s 400-meter hurdles when he campaigns in the Asian Athletics Indoor Championships in Hangzhou, China, on Feb. 12-13.