Torres misses finals; Herrera gains Phl mark

LONDON – The opposition and the unpredictable London weather took a heavy toll on long jumper Marestella Torres and Rene Herrera who put in a heroic fight despite the odds before bowing out of the athletic competitions of the 30th Olympiad at the Olympic Stadium.

Fighting off the cold, a drizzle and fearsome opposition, Torres put in her worst performance in years as she missed the finals of the women’s long jump event of the athletic competitions Tuesday night here.

Twelve hours later, Herrera finished 21st and last in the first heat of the 5000m run Wednesday morning (afternoon in Manila) but improved his personal best of 14:51.40 with a clocking of 14:44.11 in the ultra-fast first heat topped by Hayle Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan in 12:26.23.

The first five in each heat and the next five fastest in both heats advanced to the final.

Competing in the evening, Torres simply could not loosen up her muscles tightened up by the cold climate registered at 17 degrees centigrade when it was her turn to jump.

“My muscle was in pain even during warmup,” Torres, in between tears, said as swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi gave her a comforting hug on her way to her room.

The 31-year-old Southeast Asian Games champion jumped to a distance of 5.98m, her worst jump on record, on her first attempt. She improved to 6.21m in the second attempt and 6.22 in her third but these were not enough to qualify for the finals where eight instead of 12 were chosen.

The cold affected the whole field except Top 3 who made their mark of over 6.70 on their first and last attempt.

Shara Proctor of Great Britain (6.83m) Janay Deloach of the US (6.81m) and Karin Mey Melis of Turkey (6.80) who passed off their second and third attempts and Elena Sokolova of Russia (6.71) were the only players from a starting field of 32 who needed only one attempt to make the finals.

Melis’ mark of 6.71 matched the SEA Games mark of Torres in winning the gold medal in the Laos 2009 Games. If she fully acclimatized to the London weather, Torres could have made the Grade A qualifying standard of 6.70m and contend for what could be a surprise medal for the Philippines.

Torres, in fact, could have made the Top 4 and earned a passage to the finals if she did a 6.71, her SEA Games record in winning the event in Palembang, Indonesia last year.

“Parang napasukan ng lamig. The weather changed the last few days. My preparations are in vain. I know I’m prepared for this event. It’s very disappointing,” said Torres.

Also qualified for the finals were the next five performers, all of whom Torres could have surpassed in fine weather. The 6.22 mark was her worst jump of the season.

The Top 3, who passed the outright qualifying mark on their first jump, were joined in the finals by the five others with the next longest jumps.

Though not good enough for the finals, Torres’ performance was the best under the circumstances considering the much-acclimatized opponents from the West also did not perform better either.

“I will still jump. If nobody can beat me in this event, of course I will continue to make myself available to the service of my country,” said Torres.

Herrera had on record the slowest time (14:51) among 45 runners entered in the 5,000 meter run.

Not even a slow starting time and the cold weather on a cloudy morning failed to dampen the spirit of the Filipino marathoner who tried to keep a respectable position behind the main pack. He finished one minute, 15 seconds behind the leader.

The 22nd runner in the field didn’t start, making Herrera the 21st and last placer in the first heat.