Marestella Torres-Sunang (born February 20, 1981) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er.

Career

Torres-Sunang started long jumping in 1994 in

Negros Oriental Negros Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Negros; tl, Silangang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete. It occupies the southeaste ...

. Her talent was recognized by her teachers but she often train with a limited budget doing jumps on rice husks rather than a proper sand pit. Torres-Sunang finished fourth at the 2002 Asian Championships and won the silver medal at the 2005 Asian Championships. She also competed at the 2005 World Championships without reaching the final. She also participated in the 2008 Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. In 2009, she surprisingly won the 2009 Asian Championships with a leap of 6.51 m. Her personal best jump of 6.71 m, achieved at the

2011 Southeast Asian Games The 2011 Southeast Asian Games, ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia Tenggara 2011) officially known as the 26th Southeast Asian Games, or the 26th SEA Games, and commonly known as Jakarta-Palembang 2011, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from ...

in Palembang, is currently the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

Record. Torres-Sunang finished 22nd of 32 at the

2012 London Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, failing to advance to the final. On April 7, 2016, Torres-Sunang, who came from maternity with the help of her coach and sponsor

James Michael Lafferty James Michael Lafferty (born 1963) is an American businessman, speaker, consultant, psychologist, and social media influencer. He is known for his story of starting as a fitness trainer in the Procter & Gamble Company in 1984 and progressing throu ...

and nutritionist-wife Carol Lafferty, won the gold medal in the women's long jump event of the 2016 Ayala-PATAFA Philippine National Open Invitationals held at the Philsports Arena. She registered a 6.60 m jump in her 5th attempt, falling 10 centimeters short from the Olympic qualifying standard. In May 2016, the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

(IAAF) formally accepted the nomination made by the

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) is the National Sports Association (NSA) for athletics sports such as track and field, road running, cross country running, and racewalking in the Philippines, including the core athl ...

(PATAFA) for the universality slot of Torres-Sunang in the 2016 Summer Olympics. However, the slot was junked after the inclusion of marathon runner Mary Joy Tabal in the Rio-bound Philippine delegation. In July 2016, Torres-Sunang achieved the Olympic qualifying standard in the Women's Long Jump in the Kazakhstan Open and setting a new national record of 6.72 meters, thus making it into the Rio Olympics. This would be the third straight and the final Olympic appearance for the Filipina long jumper, who is the most senior member of the national contingent.

Personal life

She is married to a fellow Filipino athlete, shot putter Eliezer Sunang with who she has a son.

Personal bests

(Outdoor) *Long Jump : 6.72 m (+0.8 m/s) – Kazakhstan Open , Almaty,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, 04 July 2016 *Triple Jump : 12.67 m –

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, 03 June 2004 *100 Meters: 12.44 – 2007 World Championships,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan. 26 August 2007 (Indoor) *Long Jump : 6.06 m –

Aspire Dome The Aspire Dome is an indoor multi-purpose arena based in Qatar. It is located in the Aspire Academy in Doha and has the capacity to host 13 different sporting events simultaneously in a climate controlled arena, in addition to a full-sized indoo ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

, 13 March 2010

International competitions

External links

References