It was a cloudy, humid and hot day here in Beijing. As usual, I’m at the Nest boring myself out waiting for that elusive call. However, at 9:40am, I went up to level 0 and watch the long jump preliminaries. In Group B, our very own Marestella Torres vied for qualifying to the finals.
She was the 16th jumper in her group and with a personal best of 6.86m. I went up that morning rooting for her as if she’s able to jump her personal best, she would be able to qualify to the finals. Jumper after jumper, foul after foul. Then I saw a glimpse of her, warming herself up. Dressed in Philippine colors, I first thought the jumper was from Brazil. However, at the back of her bikini, there stood PHI for Philippines.
First jump.. and there she runs building up a momentum then the hop? She didn’t foul but she only jumped 4.27m. I groaned and said to myself, “ano ba yan! (what was that?)”. I just pray she does better in her next jump. I went back down to the office as it will be quite a wait for her next jump as there are 42 jumpers in all for both groups.
Second jump.. running.. running.. and jump.. she improved her 4.27m and didn’t foul. She jumped 5.94m and at that time ranked 15. That’s better I think but I know she could jump further than that. By that time, a friend of mine just arrived and I met up with him on his seat in level 2. I asked him if he saw Torres jump and he said “when?”. So, I sat with him and waited for the 3rd and final jump.
Third jump.. she was focused on the big screen. RS was able to take a photo of her. He said his friend’s name is also Marestella Torres. Heh! Back on the field, she’s running and she jumped. The third and final jump was an improvement of the second jump. She registered 6.17m and ranked 18 for her group. We were quite disappointed about it as she’s nowhere near her personal best. I later read that she injured her left knee on the first jump that’s why it looked like a hop.
I’m proud of her. Even though she jumped injured, she did her best and didn’t give up. I hope this didn’t aggravate her injury more and she’ll be back in London jumping her best.
—————————-
Day 10 highlights:
- Liu Xiang quit the 110m hurdles final heat due to injury. Terrence Trammell of the US injured himself during the heats. Dayron Robles cruised himself to the semifinal round.
- Greece defeated China 91-77 in Men’s Basketball.
- He Kexin won the gold in the uneven bars in women’s artistic gymnastics. She won against Nastia Liukin even though both have the same scores. The judges gave He the nod for the flawless execution of her routine.
- US outwitted China in baseball scoring 9 runs to 1.
Claudine on the Go 
hahaha sablay din. both jumpers naten. hayy. taekwondo na lang talaga.