Not close to a medal, Part 2

In Friday’s column, we reviewed the performance of four Filipino Rio Olympians – judoka Kodo Nakano, long jumper Marestella Torres, marathoner Mary Joy Tabal and 400-meter hurdler Eric Cray – and found they were way off from even a sniff of a medal. They gave it their best shot but clearly, their best was far from good enough.

Weightlifter Nestor Colonia, 24, was just as out of it as Nakano, Torres, Tabal and Cray. He was entered in the 56 kilogram division, a strategic drop from the 62 kilogram class where the father of two used to compete. There were 19 lifters and Colonia was one of four who failed to register a score. The others were from Spain, Vietnam and Mongolia.

Colonia carried 120 in his first attempt at the snatch and failed to lift 125 twice. In the clean and jerk, he tried to lift 154 thrice but never got it done to finish without a score. Coach Dondon Aldanete said because Colonia’s score in the snatch was low, the gamble was to lift more in the clean and jerk to pull within striking distance of a podium finish. Colonia, however, wasn’t up to it. If Colonia registered 154 in the clean and jerk, his total would’ve been 274, good for sixth place. The gold medal went to China’s Long Qingquan who lifted a new world record of 307.

Ironically, bronze medalist Sinphet Kruaithong of Thailand finished a poor seventh with a total of 265 at last year’s World Championships where the Zamboangueño placed fourth with 282. In Rio, Kruaithong carried 289 and outshone Colonia.

Colonia’s performance was a disappointment considering he won two golds and a silver at the Asian Championships last year. His consolation was weightlifting teammate Hidilyn Diaz brought home a silver from Rio. Aldanete said Colonia should learn from the Rio experience to bounce back in Tokyo in 2020. After all, it took Diaz three Olympics to earn a podium finish.

Swimmers Jessie Lacuna and Jasmine Alkhaldi were also far from medal contention in Rio. They both competed at the 2012 London Games and the hope was the swimmers would improve to at least advance to the next level. In 2012, Lacuna finished 36th of 40 in the 200-meter freestyle while Alkhaldi was 34th of 50 in the 100-meter freestyle. Neither was close to making the cutoff for the best 16 swimmers to qualify for the semifinals.

It was the same story in Rio for Lacuna and Alkhaldi, who hauled in a combined two silvers and eight bronzes at the Southeast Asian Games last year. Lacuna, 22, clocked 4:01.70 to finish 46th of 50 in the 400-meter freestyle. His personal best is 3:59.75 set at the Asian Games in 2010. The top eight swimmers from the heats moved to the final with the eighth placer clocking 3:45.43. The only contestants whom Lacuna outswam were from Cyprus, Andorra, Pakistan and the Cayman Islands. Of 50 starters, only six clocked four minutes or more and Lacuna was one of those at the bottom of the tank. The best Southeast Asian finisher was Malaysia’s Welson Sim who ranked No. 34 with a time of 3:51.57. Australia’s Mack Herton clocked 3:41.55 to claim the gold.

Alkhaldi, 23, did 56.3 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle to finish 33rd of 48. The top 16 went to the semifinals. She swam 56.1 at the SEA Games last year but even that wouldn’t have been enough to push her to the top 16 where the slowest time was 54.5. The best Southeast Asian to finish was Thailand’s Nattahanan Junkrajang who placed No. 32, a notch over Alkhaldi, with a time of 56.24. Penny Oleksiak of Canada and Simone Manuel of the US both clocked 52.7 to finish joint first for a share of the gold medal.

Official flag bearer Ian Lariba, 21, never lost in over 70 matches during a five-year table tennis career with La Salle in the UAAP but the level of competition was way above her head in Rio. Lariba snatched the last available ticket to Rio at the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Hong Kong last April and spent a month in Korea training with her coach Kwan Mi Sook before making her historic march at the Parade of Nations.

In Rio, there were 70 contenders from 43 nations in women’s table tennis singles. Lariba was seeded No. 65. In her Olympic debut, she was drawn against No. 58 Han Xing, a Chinese player born in Congo. In the world standings, Lariba is No. 325 and Han, No. 161. It was a knockout match, meaning one loss and you’re out. Han, competing for Congo, was threatened only in the second set and won convincingly, 11-7, 13-11, 11-9, 11-7. Lariba’s march in the opening ceremony turned out to be the high point of her Olympic appearance because her 33-minute showing on the table was below par.

Lariba scored 13 and lost 27 points on her serve during the four-setter. Her best chance to grab a set was in the second when she raced to a 3-0 lead. The count was tied, 10-all and 11-all before Han clinched it. In the third set, Lariba trimmed a four-point deficit to one, 10-9, but couldn’t overtake Han. Lariba is the first table tennis player to represent the Philippines in the Olympics so she’s in the record books but surely, the Cagayan de Oro native would like to be remembered more as a competitive athlete. The challenge is for her to qualify for Tokyo and do better four years from now.

In Tuesday’s column, we’ll review how golfer Miguel Tabuena, boxers Charly Suarez and Rogen Ladon and taekwondo jin Kirstie Elaine Alora performed in Rio.