KRISTEL SATUMBAGA

The Philippine Obstacle Sports Federation (POSF) guns for another grand sweep  with the return of the sport in the 32^nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

POSF President Atty. Alberto Agra said they have already identified six male and six female athletes who will compete in four events in the biennial meet.

“We have a ‘Perfect 4, Sweet 12’ target,” said Agra during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum Tuesday, Jan. 31, explaining that the ‘Perfect 4’ pertains to the four events and the ‘Sweet 12’ to the 12 members of the national team.

Events that will be competed in Cambodia are the individual men and women 100-meter OCR (obstacle course race), and the three-player team relay men and women 100m OCR.

Obstacle course was scrapped in the previous SEAG held in Vietnam last year after the sport debuted at the 2019 edition that the country hosted.

In the 2019 SEAG, however, the sport featured six events with the PH team sweeping all the gold medals at stake.

Aside from the SEAG, the association also gears up for a busy year as it aims to participate in 17 international events depending on available resources.

The events lined up are for its national teams for Ninja, OCR Short, OCR Long, Adventure Racing, Parkour, Para-Athletes and Youth/Kids.

They are also set to host three events: the World Ninja Athlete Games (UNAA) Qualifier Event, Elite and Kids in March, the World Obstacle Ninja World Cup Finals on March 31 to April 2 in Arcovia, and the Modern Pentathlon with Obstacles in a still undisclosed date.