Veteran long jumper Marestella Torres remains hopeful things will work out on her third try as the country’s representative in the upcoming Rio Olympics.
The 35-year-old multiple Southeast Asian Games medalist is currently training in Singapore where she is also slated to compete in the 19th Asian Masters Athletics Championships this Friday.
“Kinukuha ko pa rin yung standard kahit na qualified na ako sa Olympics, kaya sumali na rin ako dito sa Singapore para mas mapataas ko pa yung training ko,” said Torres.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has recently approved the inclusion of Torres in the Rio Games through the “principle of universality” even though she has yet to meet the Olympic qualifying standard of 6.70 meters.
The universality rule allows each country to send a male and a female athlete in the Olympics, especially if nations failed to produce qualifiers in the said sport.
This will be Torres’ third Olympic stint after making the 2008 edition in Beijing and the 2012 Games in London.
“Goal ko ang makapag-finals sa Olympics. Yun muna. Kaya nagpupursigi ako sa training,” said Torres, already a mother of one.
Torres’ best mark of 6.71 meters which she established during the 2011 Indonesia SEA Games was well within the top 11 finalists of both the 2008 and 2012 quadrennial games. The Negros-born jumper however bombed out of both campaigns when she could only tally 6.17 in Beijing and 6.22 in London.
In the recent National Open, Torres recorded 6.60 meters, a leap that continues to give her enough faith about her chances in Rio.