Jerrold Pete Mangliwan poses with the Philippine flag in the background. He carries the PH red-white-and-blue in the opening ceremonies of the Paralympic Games. —PHILIPPINE PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE
MANILA, Philippines—Jerrold Mangliwan has a shot at the podium after he qualified for the finals of the men’s 400m T52 in the athletics competition of the Tokyo Paralympic Games Friday at the Olympic Stadium.
Mangliwan, who clocked in at 1:03.41, was the fourth fastest athlete in Heat 1 and was seventh overall across the qualifying stage earning him a spot in the medal round.
The three fastest athletes in each of the heats directly qualified for the finals while the two fastest after those six will also enter the medal round.
It was a tense wait for Mangliwan as his time was less than a second slower than Heat 1 third placer Leonardo De Jesus Perez Juarez of Mexico who clocked in at 1:02.92 for the sixth-fastest time overall.
Mangliwan now has a chance to, potentially, deliver the Philippines’ third Paralympic Games medal with the finals set to be played later at 7:16 pm (Manila time).
Austria’s Thomas Geierspichler, who also raced in Heat 1, was the eighth fastest overall and clocked in at 1:04.22 to stamp his place in the finals.
Sato Tomoki of Japan was the fastest athlete in the heats with a time of 57.33 seconds in Heat 2 while the United States’ Raymond Martin topped Heat 1 with a time of 57.70 for the second-best time in the qualifiers.
Gianfranco Iannotta came in at third overall with a time of 1:00.98 while Japan’s Hirokazu Ueyonabaru came in at fourth fastest clocking in at 1:01.05.
USA’s Isaiah Rigo was at fifth overall with a time of 1:01.75.