Marestella Sunang

Marestella Sunang (née Torres; born 20 February 1981) is a Filipino long jumper.

Marestella Sunang

Sunang in 2016
Personal information
Birth name	Marestella Torres
Nationality	Filipino
Born	February 20, 1981 San Jose, Negros Oriental
Height	157 cm (5 ft 2 in) (1.57 m) (2015)
Weight	56 kg (123 lb) (2015)
Sport
Country	Philippines
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Long jump
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	6.72 m (2016)
Medal record Women's Athletics Representing  Philippines Event 1st 2nd 3rd Asian Athletics Championships 1 1 1 Asian Beach Games 0 0 1 Southeast Asian Games 4 0 2 Total 5 1 4 Asian Championships 2009 Guangdong Long Jump 2005 Incheon Long Jump 2002 Colombo Long Jump Asian Beach Games 2016 Da Nang Long Jump Southeast Asian Games 2005 Manila Long Jump 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima Long Jump 2009 Vientiane Long Jump 2011 Palembang Long Jump 2015 Singapore Long Jump 2017 Kuala Lumpur Long Jump

Torres finished fourth at the 2002 Asian Championships and won the silver medal at the 2005 Asian Championships.[1] She also competed at the 2005 World Championships without reaching the final. She also participated in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, 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 in Palembang, is currently the Southeast Asian Games Record.

Torres finished 22nd of 32 at the 2012 London Olympic Games, failing to advance to the final.

On April 7, 2016, Torres, who came from maternity with the help of her coach and sponsor James Michael Lafferty 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. Torres registered a 6.60 m jump in her 5th attempt, falling 10 centimeters short from the Olympic qualifying standard.[2][3]

On May 2016, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) formally accepted the nomination made by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) for the universality slot of Torres in the 2016 Summer Olympics.[4] However, the slot was junked after the inclusion of marathon runner Mary Joy Tabal in the Rio-bound Philippine delegation.[5]

On July 2016, Torres 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.[6][7]

She is married to a fellow Filipino athlete, shot putter Eliezer Sunang. She and Sunang have a kid.

References

• Marestella Sunang at World Athletics

1. Asian Championships - GBR Athletics
2. Leyba, Olmin (April 8, 2016). "Marestella flashes vintage form, boosts Rio bid". The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
3. "Torres falls 10cm shy of Rio norm". Philippine Daily Inquirer. April 8, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
4. Co, Adrian Stewart (May 6, 2016). "Long-jumper Torres–Sunang gains Olympics seat". Panay News. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
5. David, Jean Russel V. (June 17, 2016). "Marathoner Tabal officially Rio-bound". Manila Times. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
6. Terrado, Reuben (July 4, 2016). "Marestella Torres punches ticket to Rio by surpassing Olympic standard in last-ditch attempt". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
7. "Marestella Torres-Sunang vows to make third Olympics her best". Rappler. August 1, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2016.