An athlete competes in the SEA Games long jump athletics competition at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium on December 8, 2019. Czar Dancel, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA -- Homegrown track and field talent will share the spotlight in the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships, which starts Wednesday at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas, Tarlac.
Leading the local charge are 33rd Thailand Southeast men's decathlon champion Hokett delos Santos and men's 800-meter gold medalist Hussein Loraña in the meet organized by Philippine Athletics and co-presented by the Bases Conversion Development Authority and New Clark City.
READ: Nearly 1000 athletes to compete at PH Athletic Championships
Also expected to figure prominently are Sanya Asian Beach Games men's high jump gold medalist Leonard Grospe and back-to-back SEA Games men's 110-meter hurdles king Clinton Kingsley Bautista
Steeplechaser Juniel Gobotia, who bagged silver in the last New Taipei Athletics Open in Chinese-Taipei over the weekend in 9:15.39, will also be around to battle for honors in the country's premier trackfest.
"The ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships is our centerpiece event featuring the cream that our country has to offer in track and field," noted Philippine Athletics president Terry Capistrano.
"This is also a platform that our national athletes can test their mettle against some of the best in the region as well as from other parts of the world at a world-class venue," added Capistrano of the World Athletics-accredited arena.
He noted that the five-day meet has drawn 1,015 entries from 10 countries.
Regional neigbor Malaysia was the latest nation to confirm its participation and will five athletes in the women's Open division.
The other countries are Chinese-Taipei, Canada, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, US, Samoa, Singapore, South Korea and host Philippines.
PSC chairman Patrick "Pato" Gregorio, a prime advocate of sports tourism, was delighted by the foreign participation, declaring that "here is another sports event where we can showcase our famed Filipino hospitality to our foreign visitors.
"We welcome their participation in the ICTSI Philippine Athletic Championships with open arms and hope they stay a bit longer after the meet to enjoy the sights, sounds and other attractions that our country has to offer."
The meet kicks off early morning ON Wednesday, with three finals - the men's 5,000-meter and women's javelin throw Open events as well as the Under-18 women's shot put.
Among the featured contests in the afternoon is the men's Open pole vault finals where 33rd SEA Games bronze medalist Elijah Cole and Delos Santos, who began his career as a pole vaulter before successfully transitioning to the decathlon, could figure in a battle royale for the gold.
Paris Olympic Games veteran Lauren Hoffman is the top favorite in her pet event, the women's Open 400-meter hurdles, also set in the afternoon.