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BEIJING—Marestella
Torres walked with a limp as she roamed, for the first
time in two weeks, the spacious Olympic Village on
Wednesday. With a heavily bandaged left knee, Torres
shopped for souvenirs with diver Shiela Mae Perez.
“I feel better now, unlike yesterday,”
Torres told the BusinessMirror in Filipino. “It really
hurt yesterday.”
Torres strained her knee while competing
in the qualifying round of women’s long jump of
athletics in the 29th Olympic Games at the National
Stadium Wednesday. Despite pain, the Dumaguete City
native summoned all her strength and managed to complete
all three jumps for a 6.17-meter effort, way below her
6.63 personal best, and did not advance any further in
her event.
But she is just too happy to have reaped
the enormous experience from her first Olympics stint.
And from now on, she vowed to herself, she won’t be
cowed by what she sees on television.
“I thought they are as intimidating and
as strong as what I saw from them on TV,” she said.
“Actually, they’re not that tough, and if not for my
injury, I could have given them a tough fight.”
Torres admitted she was awed by the
numbers of the world-class athletes, more so with the
intimidating image they flashed on television. But after
Tuesday, she said: “From now on, I will no longer be
threatened even though they are world champions or not.
Sa TV nakakatakot sila, pero sa personal pala, hindi
naman.”
Even the world-class athletes whom she
look up to did not churn leaps that were dominating in
these Olympics, Torres said. “Mention technique and we
have similar techniques. Mention skills and now I can
say, kaya natin sila,” she said.
For the meantime, though, Torres would
have to avoid the runway and the pit. She will be
undergoing therapy when she gets back home for her left
knee, which bore the pressure of her takeoff in her
first attempt at the Bird’s Nest.
Medical team head Alejandro Pineda and
orthopedic expert Sonny Odulio attended to Torres at the
Team Philippines clinic at the Olympic Village Tuesday
and Wednesday. They iced Torres’s knee before
immobilizing it with a brace. The brace was replaced
with a bandage Wednesday morning.
Torres is looking forward to her flight
back home with Perez and Rexel Ryan Fabriga—the
country’s representative in men’s diving who competes
Friday—which was moved back two days Sunday. But she is
looking forward to the future—specifically the London
2012 Olympics.
“Of course I will try to return to the
Olympics in London. Kailangang bumawi,” she beamed.
“I have learned a lot here in Beijing. I
now know how it is to compete in the Olympics, and who
my opponents are and will be. I know I can do it, we
Filipinos can do it in the Olympics.”
Torres’s knee gave in right in her first
attempt, which netted her a measly 4.27 meters.
“My coach [Joseph Sy] asked me if I can
still compete, because he saw I was in pain. But I said
to myself I have to do it. I did not come here just to
get injured, I came here to compete. I came here to
fight,” she said.
She improved with 5.94 meters on her
second attempt and 6.17 on her third and last try. --Jun
Lomibao |
