Asiad prospect: a pair of long jumpers

1. Marestella Torres

Marestella Torres and mentor / coach Jim Lafferty

For the second successive Asiad, long jumper Marestella Torres is Philippine athletics’s best bet to win a medal in the quadrennial games.  Last 2010 at Guangzhou, Mare actually tied for 3rd place with  Yuliya Tarasova of Uzbekistan with a 6.49m leap.  However, she lost in the count back and settled for 4th as after her first jump (6.49m), she fouled on her 5 next jumps.

This year, she is actually on a comeback trail as she gave birth to her firstborn last January 2014.   With only 7 months of training after her pregnancy, Torres reached the 6.37m qualifying mark via her wind aided 6.45m leap at Singapore last August 23.

Asian Top list (as of August 31, 2014)

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	Venue	Date
1	6.57	Yanfei JIANG	CHN	Zhaoqing	19-Apr-14
2	6.57	Minjia LU	CHN	Oordegem-Lede	5-Jul-14
3	6.56	Mayookha JOHNY	IND	Lucknow	5-Jun-14
4	6.46	Xiaoxue ZHOU	CHN	Kunshan	30-May-14
5	6.46	Thi Thu Thao BUI	VIE	Ho Chi Minh	25-Jul-14
6	6.45	Xiaoling XU	CHN	Jinan	11-Jul-14
7	6.43	Yuliya TARASOVA	UZB	Valmiera	19-Jul-14
8	6.42	Wupin WANG	CHN	Zhaoqing	19-Apr-14
9	6.37	Maria Natalia LONDA	INA	Kangar	26-Jun-14

Prospect: I believe that Marestella has 3 more competitive years in her, culminating at the 2016 Rio Olympics.  A new national record in the next 2 years is very possible considering that Jim Lafferty is overseeing her training and nutrition.  However, 7-8 months training from giving birth is not enough to win her any medals in this years Asian games.

Best: 4th place  Worst: 8th place in the finals.

 

2. Henry Dagmil

Henry Dagmil during the 2010 Asian Games

Henry’s Asiad performances are quite decent as he placed 5th in 2006 (7.76m) and 6th in 2010 (7.52m).  His 2014’s best mark of 7.56m however, is still far off from the Asian leaders to consider him as a serious threat to medal.   Nevertheless, Henry might pull a surprise as his 2 year coach Arnold Villarube, was the one responsible for his 7.80m golden leap in the 2013 SEA games, which incidentally, was his best jump since setting the national mark at 7.99m last 2008.

Asian Top list (as of August 31, 2014)

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Date of Birth	Country	Venue	Date
1	8.47	Jinzhe LI	1-Sep-89	CHN	Bad Langensalza	28-Jun-14
2	8.17	Xinglong GAO	12-Mar-94	CHN	Kunshan	30-May-14
3	8.14	Yu ZHANG	17-Jul-92	CHN	Beijing	27-Aug-14
4	8.1	Jianan WANG	27-Aug-96	CHN	Beijing	24-Apr-14
5	8.1	Jinzhe LI	1-Sep-89	CHN	Lausanne	3-Jul-14
6	8.09	Gongchen TANG	24-Apr-89	CHN	Kunshan	30-May-14
7	8.07	Lei JIE	8-May-89	CHN	Beijing	24-Apr-14
8	7.99	Yaoguang ZHANG	21-Jun-93	CHN	Beijing	24-Apr-14
9	7.99	Qing LIN	5-Apr-95	CHN	Taipei City	13-Jun-14
10	7.98	Yohei SUGAI	30-Aug-85	JPN	Hiroshima	29-Apr-14
11	7.94	Kota MINEMURA	22-Dec-92	JPN	Fukushima	8-Jun-14
12	7.9	Ahmed Fayez AL-DOSARI	3-Jul-85	KSA	Riyadh	5-Jun-14
13	7.9	M. VIGNESHWAR		IND	Lucknow	6-Jun-14
14	7.9	Konstantin SAFRONOV	2-Sep-87	KAZ	Almaty	28-Jun-14
15	7.89	Mohammad ARZANDEH	30-Oct-87	IRI	Tehran	21-Aug-14
16	7.87	Xiaodong GE	1-Sep-92	CHN	Zhaoqing	19-Apr-14

Prospect: At 33 years old, Henry knows that this will be his last Asiad.  With a slew of Chinese jumping over 8 meters led by Jinzhe Li who is 6th in the world this year, and a couple of Japanese, Kazakh and Saudi national leaping 7.9m, realistically, I cant see Henry barging into the top 6 even if he has another 7.80m jump.

Best: 8th Worst: 12th place

Sources: IAAF, Andrew Pirie

Photocredits: PETER PARKS,AFP,Getty Images/Jamesmichaellafferty.com