MANILA – Filipino rower Cris Nievarez punched a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics following his strong showing in the Asia Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta last week at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo, Japan.
Philippine Rowing Association (PRA) President Patrick Gregorio said Nievarez’s qualification to the Summer Games was confirmed through a communiqué from the World Rowing Federation on Monday.
Gregorio added that Nievarez secured an Olympic berth by virtue of continental qualification regattas, where five national Olympic committees (NOCs) will be awarded a slot in the Olympics slated this July.
“We are happy to share that the Philippine Rowing Association received confirmation from World Rowing that (Nievarez) has qualified for the Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) for the Tokyo Olympic Games,” Gregorio said in a Facebook post.
Nievarez became the first Filipino rower in almost two decades to qualify for the Olympics since Benjie Tolentino represented the country in to the 2000 Sydney Games.
Nievarez, a gold medal winner in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held in the Philippines, finished fifth overall in the Men’s Single Sculls (M1x) of the qualifying tournament last week.
The 20-year-old Nievarez did not advance to the championship round after settling on a fifth place finish in the semifinals round of his event last Friday.
At the close of the qualifying tournament, Nievarez wound up at the ninth spot overall in his class, but moved up the ladder as some rowers ahead of him already qualified in other events where they earned better clockings.
Rowers from India, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Indonesia who were ahead of Nievarez already qualified in other rowing events in the Olympics.
Nievarez is the eighth Filipino athlete to compete in Tokyo, along with Hidilyn Diaz (weightlifting), world champion Carlos Yulo (gymnastics), pole vaulter EJ Obiena (athletics), and Eumir Felix Marcial, Irish Magno, Carlo Paalam, and world champ Nesthy Petecio (boxing)./PN
