Dominant Torres rips 20-year old mark

VIENTIANE, Laos – Marestella Torres jumped to a new Southeast Asian Games record as the tracksters of Go Teng Kok continued their great leap forward in the athletic competitions of the 25th SEA Games at the National Sports Complex yesterday.

Torres leapt to a new distance of 6.68 meters on her fourth attempt, and so dominant was the 28-year-old Asian champion from San Jose Negros Occidental that even her worst long jump, at 6.43 on her first try, was way above the best attempt of 6.35m of silver medalist Thitima Mangjana of Thailand.

Third was Maria Natalia of Indonesia with a 6-23m jump. Torres broke the 20-year-old mark of 6.52m in the 1989 Kuala Lumpur Games and came close to the Asian Games mark of 6.91m by Yao Weili of China in the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games.

Reclaiming his bragging rights anew, Go said he was right all the while that his wards would win the gold in at least six events.

“I have the records to show that the world ranking lists nine Filipino athletes as No. 1 in Southeast Asia, and they’ve come here to prove that point to those who don’t believe in us,” said Go. Of those ranked in the world list, only Henry Dagmil did not make it to the gold, having sustained an injury during his training this year in the US. He limped out of the World Championships last August with a recurring leg injury.

The other gold medal winners are Rene Herrera (3000m steeplechase), Arniel Ferrera (hammer throw), Rosie Villarito (javelin throw), and marathoners Jho-Ann Banayag and Eduardo Buenavista.

The lone silver medalist is Joebert Delicano (long jump), who also won the bronze in the triple jump along with Mercedita Fetalvero (5,000m), Julius Sermona (5000m) and Dagmil (long jump).

The 6-1-4 gold-silver-bronze medal tally ranks the RP team third behind Thailand (10-17-9) and Indonesia (6-6-5) going into today’s final day of competition.