Ace Filipina long jumper, Marestella Torres, narrowly missed landing a podium finish at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Torres made only one legal jump (her first round attempt of 6.49m), which was good enough for 4th place. The Filipino national record holder at 6.68m lost to the Ukzbekistani Heptathlon Champion, Yuliya Tarasova, on countback.
Photos from Daylife and Getty Images
South Korea’s Jung Soon-Ok 정순옥 won top honors with her modest 6.53m leap. The 2010 World Indoor Champion in the Triple Jump, Olga Rypakova, grabbed the silver (6.50m).
Photos from Daylife and Getty Images
Torres was tantalizingly close to becoming the first-ever Filipino track & field athlete to win an Asian Games medal since the legendary Elma Muros-Posadas’ long jump bronze in the 1994 Hiroshima Games. In fact, the powerfully-built long jumper held the lead for the first two rounds, before Rypakova (the Asian triple jump record holder at 15.25m!) bettered Torres’ leap by 1 cm. Torres is a three-time SEA Games long jump champion and the surprise winner in last year’s Asian Athletics Championships.
Watch the ABS-CBN feature on Torres
According to a Manila Bulletin article, Torres twisted her ankle in the 2nd round.
Read the Manila Bulletin article here
Read the Inquirer article here
With Torres’ heartbreaking 4th place finish, the last Filipino hope for an athletics medal is long jumper Henry Dagmil. The long jump is an unpredictable event. In the event where the word “Beamonesque” was coined, anything can happen. Unless you’re a Carl Lewis, rock-hard consistency is hard to come by.
The competition could have gone both ways. Had Maris made a legal jump in one of those failed attempts, she could have won gold! A 4th place finish is a respectable result nonetheless. We’re proud of you Maris! Your time will come!
Additional link
Long Jump results
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