Steeplechase’s Herrera gets London Games slot

RENE Herrera, Southeast Asia’s steeplechase king, is going to the London Olympics.

Athletics chief Go Teng Kok confirmed yesterday that the five-time Southeast Asian Games champion in men’s 3000-meter steeplechase is joining long jump queen Marestella Torres in the global summer games on July 27 to Aug. 12.

Go submitted the names of Torres, who represented the country in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Herrera to the Philippine Olympic Committee to fill up the two mandatory slots (male and female) for track and field.

Herrera and Torres will carry the national colors along with boxer Mark Anthony Barriga, the lone qualifier from men’s boxing so far.

“For the past decade, Rene has made us proud in the SEA Games. He deserves to be in the Olympics,” said Go of Herrera, 32, who remained unbeaten in Southeast Asia since 2003.