Tabal’s next target: Asian Games

MANILA, Philippines - From the other end of the line, Filipina marathoner Mary Joy Tabal still sounded ecstatic yesterday morning or 24 hours after she won the gold in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

The pride of Cebu said she had received countless messages from family, friends and supporters since she ruled the women’s marathon in this SEA Games.

Her victory was quite significant because it’s the first for the Philippines in this edition, and that it came despite the fact that she almost did not make it to the team due to differences with team officials.

But that’s all water under the bridge now.

“Hopefully. Everything is okay now between me and the Patafa (Philippine Athletics and Track and Field Association),” she told The STAR over the phone.

Tabal said she counted over a hundred congratulatory messages, around 120 she said, from the Philippines, and that she has yet to open other messages that came through Viber, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.

“Wala kasi ako (I don’t have) roaming (on my) sa fone ko,” said Tabal, who has to rely on the Internet to send and receive messages from home.

Tabal has yet to speak to her parents after the victory but said she has spoken to a sibling.

“Of course, they are all very happy,” she said.

Tabal was supposed to fly home today but Filipino sports officials had offered to extend her stay in Kuala Lumpur so she could have some time to enjoy the victory and cheer on the other Filipino athletes vying for the gold.

“I will be their cheerleader. I will cheer for them, including our athletes in triathlon tomorrow. We will win two golds there,” said Tabal, now tentatively scheduled to fly home on Aug. 24.

Philip Ella Juico

Patafa president Philip Ella Juico said the petite Cebuana runner agreed to stay behind to cheer her teammates, who will see action in various athletics events starting Tuesday.

Juico, the former Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman, said agreeing to support and bond with her teammates in this very crucial period is such a good gesture, especially since she’s training in Cebu and abroad most of the time.

“It’s good that she agreed to stay here. At least she can get to cheer her teammates and spend some quality time with them,” said Juico, who is looking to surpass their five gold-medal production two years ago in Singapore.

Up next for Tabal is the 2018 World Half-Marathon in Valencia, Spain in March and then the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia in August.

She said she qualified to the World Marathon Championships in London but it ran against the SEA Games schedule so she opted to compete in Kuala Lumpur.

“The Asian Games is my next target. It will be my first Asian Games. I’ve been to the Olympics, the SEA Games but not the Asian Games,” she said.

All she wants now is the assurance from the Patafa and the Philippine Sports Commission that she could continue her training in Tuscany in Italy, where she spent many weeks preparing for the SEA Games.

“The program in Italy is effective for me. I am doing well. It’s really intensive training. I hope I can get the assurance of support early so I can prepare early,” she said.

With her SEA Games gold, Tabal hoped that she had buried her differences with the top Patafa officials, including its chief, Philip Ella Juico.

“Hopefully, wala na yun,” said Tabal, who admitted that she was surprised to see Juico at the water station on her final loop of last Saturday’s race.

“Na-shock talaga ako na it was sir Juico who gave me the water bottle – only that he forgot to open the bottle. In the briefings here, everybody was told that bottled waters must be opened before they are handed to the runners,” she said.

“I was really shocked to see sir Juico. Masaya din ako sa  presence niya,” said Tabal.