According to Philstar, a print and digital newspaper in the Philippines, the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) has asked host Philippines to have to reinstate the six events it delisted from the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games)’ athletics programme.

Walker Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc

Mr Philip Ella Juico, the President of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA), said the sanctioning body for international competitions wanted his country to hold a full complement of 48 events, which includes the 5K run, 10K run, and 20K walk for both men’s and women’s that the Philippines initially scrapped from the upcoming sports event.

“AAA said that if the delisted track events are not restored, there will be no permit. If there is no AAA’s permit, there will be no SEA Games because there is no track and field which is mandatory” he affirmed.

He added his country scratched the three events off due to logistics reasons, and introduced 4x100m and 4x400m mixed gender relays as medal events.

Da Nang’s walking coach Tran Anh Hiep, plus local walkers Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc and Nguyen Thanh Ngung expressed their excitement and happiness at the latest information above.

According to the initial plan, the city’s walking team will be sent to China for training to prepare for the 30^th SEA Games, but finally the plan is canceled as the host Philippines decided to not hold 6 key track-and-field events.

Walker Phuc remarked she and other walkers should have at least 3 months to prepare for the forthcoming regional multi-sport event. Currently, they would try even more efforts to achieve the best results in the short preparation time.

The 30^th SEA Games will be held from 30 November to 11 December in the cities of Manila, Clark and Subic.

This year will mark the fourth time for the Philippines to host the SEA Games. The country hosted the biennial event in 1981, 1991 and 2005

This year’s event will be the most notable for being the first edition to include e-sports and obstacle course as well as having the highest number of sports in the history of the games, at 56.