Marestella’s leap of faith

MANILA, Philippines – Three years ago, long jumper Marestella Torres thought it was the end of her athletic career. She suffered a hamstring tear and during her recovery period, got pregnant. The layoff from competition took nearly a year, prompting Torres to resign her slot in the national pool.

“I lost all my privileges with the PSC,” said Torres, a 2009 Asian Games gold medalist and a four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist. “I competed in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics but my past record didn’t matter. If I wanted to come back, I had to start from scratch and prove myself all over again.”

Today, Torres’ son Elemar Matvie is two years old. Her husband Eliezer Sunang, a 2007 Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist in shotput, has retired from competitive sports and works at Maynilad Water. And Torres is in Rio for her third Olympics.

“Three months after my baby was born, I resumed training,” said Torres, 35. “It was a challenge. I’m thankful for the support of Mr. (Jim) Lafferty who encouraged me to come back. I wasn’t sure if I could be competitive again because of my age, my baby, my layoff and my injury. But I was determined to try. My motivation is different now because I have a family. I’m doing this for my country, my husband and our son.”

In her first international competition after giving birth, Torres jumped 6.17 meters at the Hong Kong Open in June 2014. It was way short of her national record of 6.71. But she persevered. At the SEA Games last year, Torres claimed the bronze with a jump of 6.41. She had dominated the conclave in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 so not bagging the gold was a setback. Still, Torres wasn’t fazed. Her goal was to make it back to the Olympics.

With no female qualifier in athletics, the Philippines was awarded a universality ticket which went to Torres. But the ticket was withdrawn when Mary Joy Tabal qualified for Rio in marathon. So for Torres to go to the Olympics, she had to qualify and breach the 6.7 mark.

“I was a wildcard entry in 2008 and in 2012, the Olympic qualifying standard was 6.65 and I jumped 6.71 so I made it,” she said. “This time, the standard was raised to 6.7. I checked the qualifying competitions available and asked (PATAFA president) Mr. (Philip) Juico if I could go to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan instead of Hong Kong and Thailand. I felt my chances were better if I went to the countries that were far away. I got the go-signal. In Kyrgyzstan, my best jump was 6.47 so my only hope was to make it in Kazakhstan.”

Torres said in her first three jumps in Kazakhstan, she fouled then hit 6.24 and 6.16. She had three jumps left. “It rained all morning until 2:30 p.m.,” she recalled. “My first jump was scheduled at 5 p.m. I texted Mr. Lafferty to pray for me. By 3:30 p.m., it stopped raining and I cut off my communication with Manila to focus. In my first two jumps, I fouled. I had to adjust my takeoff so I wouldn’t foul on my third and last try. I told myself this is it, if God wants me to go to Rio, He’ll give me the strength to jump 6.7. I tried not to think of the pressure, I just prayed to do my best.”

In an inspiring leap of faith, Torres jumped to a new national record of 6.72 to breach the Olympic qualifying mark. She booked a ticket to Rio on her last attempt.