Overweight Torres still hoping to improve mark

LONDON – If Maristella Torres surpasses her personal best of 6.71 meters, which is also the best in Southeast Asia, she has high medal chances in the women’s long jump event of the 30th Olympic Games athletic competitions.

Torres, 31, will be among 40 entries in the preliminaries set Aug. 4 at the Olympic stadium.

She qualified under the B standard of 6.65 for women’s long jump but is a bit below the A standard (6.75) which should give her equal chances to vie for the gold in the finals on Aug. 8.

The San Jose, Negros Occidental native said she hasn’t peaked in time as she is still a bit below her fighting weight of 52 kilos.

“I am three kilos above my ideal weight, and I’m still making adjustments in other departments of the game before I can be in top condition” she said. “Magaan na ako pero gusto ko pang gumaan lalo so I’ll be in top condition for my event.”

“The two-training free training in London before the Games didn’t help any because we had to train in the cold and the rains had been an obstacle to our training,” she added.

“My training in Gemany three years ago was the best I’ve been through. My German coaches didn’t change my techniques. All they did was to adjust the physical aspect, which is toughening up my abdomen and core, which are important in running, takeoff and while you’re on air,” she said.

She said that since her training in Germany where she even surpassed her previous marks, her performance had dropped to as low as 6.62 meters which she posted in winning the gold in the Kosmonov Memorial in Kazakhstan in July.

“Sana macondition lang. My target is to surpass my personal best, and I hope I can do it here in London,” she said.