Fil-Am runner triumphs, warms up for Paris Olympics shot

Victoria Bossong won the women’s 800 meters in the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships with very little opposition on Sunday and got the workout she needed for bigger tournaments heading back to the United States and then Europe where she could hopefully hit the Olympic qualifying standard.

“It’s not the time that I wanted, but I’m fine with it,” Bossong, who timed two minutes and 9.56 seconds, said. “This is the first time I competed here in the Philippines and I’m proud of the win. It’s all part of the (Olympic) journey.”

The 21-year-old neuroscience major at Harvard University clocked faster in the morning heats (2:12.7), which was way slower than her personal best of 2:00.92 during the US NCAA Division I race in March. The Games qualification standard is 1:59.30.

And Bossong, who blasted out at the start before slowing down in the final 400 m at PhilSports oval, attributes this to not being pressed by the opposition hard enough.

“Usually people next to me pull me along. But it’s good to learn to run more solo without people next to you, so you’d become a better athlete,’’ said Bossong. “In the future, I hope to be able to run with a solo performance even if there’s no competition right by my side.

I think I’d do better that way, not worry about the people around me and focus on my own race,’’ she added.

Bossong immediately went to the airport after the race backed by CEL Logistics and the Philippine Sports Commission bound for Maine as she prepares for the NCAA Regionals this week in Kentucky and the Finals in Oregon on June 5 to June 8.

Bernalyn Bejoy, a national team mainstay, checked in behind her in 2:12.48 with Susan Ramadan of Far Eastern University arriving third in 2:17.88.

“The goal is to win the national (United States) championships. I’ll focus on those two (NCAA regionals and finals), then we go to meets in Europe and hopefully hit the (Olympic) qualifying standard,’’ said Bossong. INQ