Three-time Olympic veteran Marestella Torres-Sunang was visibly frustrated, cursing herself for being careless during the warm-up, when she ran a full approach without having the sand cleared by the race officials.
Because a fellow runner made a jump before her resulting toa break in the sand.
“Na-shoot yung paa ko sa butas sa sand. Malalim yung butas at na-eksakto dun ang talon ko,” said Sunang, adding that during her fall she felt a sharp pain on her hip.
“Naramdaman ko agad. Kaya sa first jump ko pa lang, alam kong masakit. Gumuguhit hanggang sa lower back ko yung sakit.”
As a result, she could only jump 6.22 on her first jump when in practice in Rio she was already averaging 6.46 to 6.50. A jump of 6.53 or higher could have carried her to Wednesday’s finals.
In her second and third jumps she did 6.10 and 6.15.
Sunang, who has a best jump of 6.72, established in the Kazakhstan Open only last June, is in her last Olympics. Already 35, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is out of the horizon.
She said she can still vie in the 2017 SEA Games or the 2018 Asian Games but is quite unsure when or where her next tournament will be.
“Naiinis ako sa nangyari. Naging careless ako, Parang nakita ko na yung butas sa sand, tinuloy ko pa din ang jump.
“Hindi ko inisip na baka ma-shoot ako sa butas. Hindi na nga nag-qualify, na-injure pa,” said the three-time Olympian.
Her coach, Joebert Delicano, said they will have to check the extent of the injury first thing in the morning Wednesday.
“Kailangan matingnan agad,” said Delicano, adding that Sunang is scheduled to compete in the Asian Beach Games in Vietnam next month.
“Baka [doon] hindi na ako sumali,” said Sunang.
