Fil-Am Hurdler Eric Cray Eliminated in Rio

Eric Cray finishes the men’s 400-m hurdles semis in 49.37 seconds, second to the last among eight hurdlers.

Filipino-American hurdler Eric Shauwn Cray failed to qualify for the men’s 400-m hurdles final after coming up 7th in the first semifinal heat with a time of 49.37 seconds. He had a good start but faded along the way.

The 27-year-old Cray came up 7th of 8 competitors in the first semifinal heat with a time of 49.37 seconds. His also failed to beat his personal best time of 48.98 seconds.

Only the top two finishers from each semifinal heat will advance to the final along with the next two fastest runners. Cray’s final rank is 17th in a total field of 24.

Before qualifying to the semis, Cray ranked third with a time of 49.05 seconds where Keisuke Nozawa of Japan topped the heat in 48.62 followed by Thomas Barr of Ireland at 48.93. For the Japanese it was a personal best, and for the Irish it was a season best.

Cray, who was born to a Filipina mother and an American serviceman in Olongapo City but raised in the US state of Texas, has won two gold medals for the Philippines at the Southeast Asian Games.

As of press time, the Philippines has won one silver medal in the Rio Olympics after Hidilyn Diaz finished with a lift of 200kg at the women’s 53kg category in weightlifting. This is the first medal the Philippine delegation has bagged in the Rio Olympics.

Athletics, boxing, swimming, and the recently added weightlifting gave the Philippines its 10 medals (three silver and seven bronze) over the 20 times it has participated in the Games.

Since the Olympic Games’ debut at Paris 1924, this country has been in every edition except Moscow 1980 because of its partial support to the US-led boycott.