John Cabang Tolentino finally made the Asian Games podium, and made history along the way.
The Paris Olympian won bronze in the men’s 110-meter hurdles on Sunday night, Sept. 27, at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, with a season-best time of 13.48 seconds.
It was the Philippines’ first athletics medal of the 2026 Asian Games, ABS-CBN News and Inquirer reported.
A Decades-Long Drought, Over
Tolentino is the first Filipino male hurdler to win an Asian Games medal since 1954, according to Tiebreaker Times, Inquirer, and ABS-CBN News.
His bronze is also the country’s first Asiad hurdles medal since Elma Muros won bronze in 1990.
China’s Chen Yuanjiang won gold in 13.15 seconds, and Japan’s Rachid Muratake took silver in 13.29.
ABS-CBN News reported that Tolentino edged Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Yuan-kai (13.55) for the bronze.
He had qualified for the final with a 13.58-second run in the heats, then improved on it in the final, according to ABS-CBN News.
“I Just Did It”
“I’m very happy. It was just a lot of self-pressure, and I just did it,” an emotional Tolentino said after the race, Inquirer reported.
“I came here to any competition always to win,” he said. “Even in the hard times, I kept pushing. I was always dreaming about this.”
He told ABS-CBN News: “I have to become better and better, but after [the] Olympics, everything was uphill.”
Tiebreaker Times reported that he credited his coach, family, girlfriend, and the Filipino people for helping him reach the milestone.
Redemption From Hangzhou
The medal meant extra for Tolentino, who finished fourth, just off the podium, at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
It also builds on a strong run.
In December 2025, he won the 110m hurdles gold at the 33rd SEA Games in Bangkok with a SEA Games record of 13.66 seconds, breaking the 13.69 mark Thailand’s Jamras Rittidet had held since 2015, Tiebreaker Times and ABS-CBN News reported.
Next Stop: LA
Now that he has his Asian Games medal, Tolentino already has a bigger target in mind.
“I’m gonna go for LA Olympics,” he said.
