LEONARD GROSPE, a Philippine team member, broke the 17-year-old national record in high jump during the Philippine National Games on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at the Philsports Track Oval in Pasig City.
Photo Courtesy: PSC
The 17-year-old won gold after setting a new record in the men’s open high jump with a clearance of 2.20 meters, breaking Sean Guevara’s previous mark of 2.17 meters established during the 2005 National Open.
The record he broke happened to be the one held by his own coach. Guevarra is currently training Grospe, which is an excellent approach for passing the torch to the youngster.
Photo Courtesy: PSC
Despite seeing his record broken, Guevarra is glad to see Grospe of the Mapua University varsity squad break the record as he believes records are meant to be broken.
This is just one of many records he has established this year, including national indoor records of 2.14m and 2.15m in the Asian Indoor Championships in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan, last February.
Grospe’s 2.15m performance broke Tyler Ruiz’s previous record of 2.09m set in Naperville, Illinois, in 2014.
Grospe went 2.18m at the Pinoy Athletics Summer Series competition last June in Lingayer, Pargasian. However, World Athletics did not accept this and it did not count.
These were followed by a disappointing Phnom Penh Southeast Asian Games performance in which he finished fifth with a 2.13m record and lost out on a medal.
Grospe then flew to this record-breaking accomplishment in just six months, making all of his efforts for the six-day Philippine Sports Commission meet worthwhile.
Grospe is building a name for himself as one of the many future athletes on whom the country may rely in international contests, thanks to multiple record-breaking achievements.
