By MARK REY MONTEJO
SANTO TOMAS, Batangas – Sprinters King Christian Naguit and Angelica Poche Belendares got a shot in the arm after a “godfather” came to provide them financial support in their pursuit of excellence.
The two are the latest members of Pinoy Athletics, the very group that is helping Zion Corrales Nelson in her bid to reach her full potential and give the country the additional push to become great again in the region.
During the time of Gintong Alay – the agency that helped finance the training of young and promising athletes led by Lydia de Vega, Hector Begeo and Isidro del Prado – to name a few – the country was considered a giant in the Asian region – SEA Games in particular.
But that was a long time ago.
With the entry of Mega Prime Foods Inc. (MPFI) – manufacturer of Mega Sardines and Mega Tuna – Naguit and Belendares are expected to get all the help they can in harnessing their talent.
They had already proven their worth during the just-concluded PH Athletics Open that saw them winning gold medals.
“We’re happy with the result, but we continue to work on our team, especially the youngsters, we have the opportunity to build this young team,” said Pinoy Athletics founder Andrew Pirie at the event held Mega Prime Foods Inc. (MPFI) in Santo Tomas, Batangas Tuesday, June 16.
“I’m hoping this starts a beautiful journey of this partnership. There are lots of athletes in the Philippines, especially Mindanao and Visayas, with the help of Mega Sardines and Mega Tuna, we’re able to reach those athletes,” he added.
Pirie also revealed that Nelson, the country’s 100m dash record holder, is now close to earning a spot in the 20th Asian Games in Japan.
“We might have three members for the national team in the Asian Games… but for the meet Zion is the favorite to compete there, some of our athletes are trying to hit the qualification [time],” the Filipino-Kiwi mentor continued.
Nelson, 27, eclipsed Kristina Knott’s feat (11.27sec) after timing in 11.19 seconds in the women’s 100m event of the McNab Sprint Series in California, USA.
