GUANGZHOU—Unless she overcomes her extreme disappointment of not landing a medal in the women’s long jump where she is one of the favorites, Marestella Torres could be retiring after the 16th Asian Games. “Baka mag-retire na lang ako,” blurted Torres after her dismal fourth-place finish in the event she focused on in her entire athletics career at the Aoti Main Stadium on Tuesday night.
So disappointed was Torres that she was in tears as she rushed to the Athletes’ Lounge of the Aoti after her event. She locked herself up in her room at the Athletes’ Village practically the whole day on Wednesday and refused to be interviewed. She also asked the Philippine secretariat to rebook her for home on Wednesday, a day ahead of her original flight back to Manila.
Torres, 28, won the Asian Athletics Championships long jump gold medal with a leap of 6.51 meters in October last year in the same Aoti field. Confident of winning gold in Guangzhou 2010, she further honed her jumping skills with a four-month training in Germany where she did a better 6.61.
On a cool Tuesday night and in front of Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco Jr., his daughter Mikee Cojuangco Jaworski and athletics chief Go Teng Kok, Torres could not do anything right after an intimidating first leap of 6.49 meters. Nobody else in the 13-athlete event did better than 6.31 after the first of six leaps.
Torres was called for foul jumps in all of her next five leaps, a first time in her career that bewildered everyone, including her coach Joseph Sy.
“Hindi ko alam kung sino ang malas,” Torres told Medy Tortusa, a long-time staff at the POC office who was rewarded with her first international trip for her tireless efforts at the sports organization, on Wednesday morning when the latest toast of Philippine athletics slipped into the Athletes’ Village mess hall for breakfast with close friend, cyclist Baby Marites Bitbit.
Go said Torres suffered an injury in her second jump, a declaration many felt as an excuse but one which Sy validated.
“Unfortunately, when she did her second jump, she felt pain in her left ankle,” said Sy, who pointed to the foul board which was slightly elevated at about 4 mm over the good [jump] board. “That changed her stride rhythm.”
“Never in her life that she did consecutive fouls. When she did 6.49, we thought she was already good for a medal,” added Sy.
Jun Lomibao, Business Mirror
