John Cabang Tolentino: From Spain to Team Philippines

JOHN CABANG TOLENTINO, or his registered athlete name, John Cabang, is a 22-year-old Robotics Major in Spain who came from the Basque region of San Sebastian in Spain. 

He started his athletics career in Spain in 2017 by winning a gold medal in a 110m hurdles competition in Durango. 

He then continued to run for said country until he first competed in the Philippines in November 2022 for the PATAFA Weekly Relays Final Meet in Pasig where he won a gold medal. 

He made a mark with Team Philippines in July 2023 when he finished fourth place in the 110m hurdles for the Asian Athletics Championships with 13.56 seconds. This is only the start of him not only bringing national records home but also bringing honor to the name of the Philippines.

Breaking records

From his record-breaking run in the Asian Athletics Championships, Tolentino broke his own record by running 13.53 seconds on 110m hurdles in the Spanish Championships. 

Following this, he continued carrying Team Philippines in the Asian Games by finishing fourth place with 13.62 seconds in October 2023. 

But what put him on the map was when he won a bronze medal in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship in Iran on the 60m hurdles, finishing at 7.64 seconds which broke the national record as reported by Spin PH. 

Inquirer wrote that his success led him to be pushed 32^nd in the ranking. 

In March 2024, Glasgow, Scotland hosted the World Athletics Indoor Championships which he only made it into the semi-finals, but nevertheless finished with 7.68 seconds. 

This only led him to work harder, and by the time, the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships came up, he won gold in the 110m hurdles with 13.37 seconds.

Qualifying for the Olympics

Tolentino then made a new Philippine record of 110m hurdles. Philstar reported that he moved from no.31 in the rankings to no. 24. 

At the time that this was reported, Tolentino was said to have participated in four more events. 

These events include the Seiko Golden Grand Prix where he finished ninth place with 13.72 seconds and the Spanish Clubs Championships where he won gold with 13.38 seconds. 

This helped him to build his ranking up to qualify for Paris 2024. Philstar reported that with the way he was performing at the time, it was a no-brainer that he would be qualified for the Olympics. 

At this point, he was already being trained directly to continue to Paris alongside EJ Obiena. Finally, on July 3, 2024, he was announced to participate in the Olympics alongside Lauren Hoffman to compete in the athletics category. 

Setting expectations

Considering that this is Tolentino’s first run in the Olympics, and the fact that One Sports reported him to be the 30^th in the ranking and 29^th in the ranking by Inquirer, there is a lot of pressure placed upon him with the way he keeps breaking records. 

Currently, Tolentino is in the 37^th place in the World Athletics Organization’s site for men’s 110m hurdles. This shows that he continues to prove his slot in the Olympics. 

Keeping into mind that the Manila Times reported that this is the Philippines’ first time to send 22 athletes’ delegations for a sports competition since the 2000 Sydney Games, the idea that Team Philippines will be bringing more medals home rests on his and the other delegates’ shoulders. 

This undeniably opens up a question of whether John Cabang Tolentino will bring the Philippines the medal or will make this season another one of his experiences in the books.

With reports from Ashley Kristieanne Ignacio