Cray in ‘best shape,’ stays on track for Tokyo berth

FILE – Gold for Eric Cray in the men’s 400-meter hurdles of the 30th Southeast Asian Games. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Eric Cray remains steadfast in his preparation to return to the Olympic stage despite the challenges he’s currently facing while living in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Samantha Cray, Eric’s coach, reported to the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association that the Filipino-American sprinter clocked 46.5 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles in April during his training in El Paso, Texas, breaking the Olympic qualifying standard of 48.90 seconds.

“Eric is in the best shape he has ever been since his 48.98 personal best in 2016 and in comparison to practice, performing much faster than he was back then,” Samantha told Patafa President Philip Ella Juico.

Cray also competed in several competitions before lockdown protocols were imposed in Texas.

The 2016 Olympian and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist tallied a time of 47.8 seconds in his first race of the 2020 outdoor season in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he eclipsed his previous indoor personal best of 48.28 seconds he made in 2015.

Samantha said that even though Cray has been committed to his training, they had to tone things down a bit to prevent any injury as the Tokyo Olympics got postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic.

In her conversation with Juico, Samantha said Cray was “in great shape and on track to meeting qualifying standards for Tokyo 2020” and that they “put more focus on his race pattern and speed endurance.”

Cray previously trained at local parks and in El Paso streets but they decided to move away from the roads to prevent further harm.