CAPAS, Tarlac — Filipino German Olympian and “Tito Boy” Abunda’s nephew Nathaniel Seiler posted a 10,000-m race walk national record for the gold medal in the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships Thursday morning at the New Clark City Stadium here.
Having represented Germany at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Seiler clocked 43:53.38 to top the previous national record of 44:28.08 set by Sonny Diaz at the 1995 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
Hendro of Indonesia timed 45:58.88 for the silver medal and Vincent Vianmar Dela Cruz of Spectrum Runners logged 47:37.94 for the bronze.
Competing in the Philippines for the first time, Seiler said her mother Leticia is a distant cousin of the famous host and talent manager Eugenio Romerica “Tito Boy” Abunda, also hailing from Borongan, Samar.
“My mother’s name is Leticia Abunda, yes I’m related to the [Boy Abunda], he’s my tito (uncle),” said Seiler, who hails from Baden, Germany where her mother works.
“I was actually a bit confused in the beginning why everyone’s calling him ‘Tito Boy’ when he was my Tito Boy,” Seiler playfully said.
Race walking since 2011, Seiler said he actually didn’t know about the old record and had he known, he could have pushed himself further.
“It feels good. I was surprised. I didn’t know the actual national record and I was surprised breaking it,” the 30-year-old said.
“Once I left the pack, I was starting to slow down because I wasn’t used to the heat. I was thinking ‘I can relax now, for sure I can win this now.’ I could have pushed further (had I known).”
Having represented Germany in multiple international meets including the Tokyo Games, Seiler said he looks to represent the Philippines, especially at the Asian Games this September in Japan.
“As I said, it’s my first time competing here and I’m looking forward to represent the Philippines in the Asian Games.”
NIEL VICTOR MASOY
