Cebuano runner Mary Joy Tabal has given up her quest to earn a qualifying slot to the Tokyo Olympics.
That’s because all the qualification events that Tabal had planned to join last year and early this year have all been called off.
Because there are no more races to join, earn points and qualify for the quadrennial meet this July, the 31-year-old Tabal has decided to shift her preparations elsewhere.
The Busay-based Tabal will now just concentrate on her stint in the coming 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.
“Ni-let go ko na siya (Tokyo Olympics). So focused na lang ako sa SEA Games this year,” said Tabal, who has been training in the outskirts of Cebu City.
Because COVID-19 cases in Cebu City have gone down, Tabal is slowly beginning to shift her training activities to an outdoor setting.
“Nakaka-frustrate iyung 2020. Grabe ‘yung mga goals ko. All-in talaga ako for the Tokyo Olympics,” said Tabal.
But everything changed when travel restrictions and lockdowns stretched from days into weeks and months.
“I thought this pandemic will only last for a few weeks. Tapos, naging one year. Nothing to expect na,” said Tabal.
The 4’11” Tabal was the first female Filipino marathon runner to qualify for the Olympics when she made it to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
To qualify for Rio, Tabal submitted a time of 2:43:29 in the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon in 2016.
Tabal then placed 124th at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Among the races that Tabal hoped to join to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics was the 2021 Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon in the first week of February.
After this, she was supposed to join the Seoul International Marathon in the second week of March.
The Tokyo Marathon, also scheduled in March, was supposed to be another qualifier, but it was reset for October.
Tabal will still participate in the Tokyo Marathon as part of her preparations for the SEA Games.
It has been 15 months since Tabal joined a road race. The last time she did, Tabal settled for runner-up honors to Christine Hallasgo in the 2019 SEA Games marathon.