WITH long jumper Marestella Torres-Sunang hitting the qualifying mark to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, hopes are high that there will be more legitimate qualifiers.
Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association secretary-general Nonoy Unso said this after Torres-Sunang became the third outright qualifier in athletics.
“Sana may mag-qualify pa para maging apat,” said Unso after receiving a copy of Torres-Sunang’s performance in the 2016 Kazakhstan Open.
Unso said they are awaiting official confirmation on Torres-Sunang’s status from the International Association of Athletics Federations.
On the other hand, Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena is still hopeful that he will make it to Rio Games.
He is currently competing in Europe under the guidance of famed pole vault coach Vitaly Petrov. Obiena will enter in three competitions before July 11, the day the International Association of Athletics Federations announces the finals list of qualifiers to the games.
On Monday (Manila time), Sunang-Torres cleared 6.72 meters under not so windy conditions on her sixth and final attempt.
Torres-Sunang, who clinched three gold medals during her stint in tournaments in Kazakhstan, won the gold after beating Kyrgystan rival Anna Bylanova, who settled for the silver with her feat of 5.97 meters.
A wind condition of 0.8 meters was present during Torres-Sunang’s attempt. But it was below the legal limit of 2.0 meters/second.
“It’s a legal jump. She surpassed the Olympic entry mark of 6.7 meters.
Dzolba Oksana of Almaty took the bronze in 5.75 meters.
This is the second time that Torres-Sunang has legitimately made it to the Olympiad since 2012.
She made it to the London Games when she cleared 6.71 meters in the Palembang Southeast Asian Games back in 2011.