Rio Olympics exec insists Tabal needs confirmation
The Rio Olympics Organizing Committee has made it clear that if Mary Joy Tabal goes on to qualify for the Games scheduled in August, the Philippines will no longer be entitled to a universality slot for any female track and field athlete.
That means that if Tabal, who met the Olympic qualifying time during last week’s Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, gets her confirmation as a Rio Olympics qualifier, Filipina long jump specialist Marestella Torres will have to find another way to get to Rio.
The 35-year-old Torres, a veteran of the 2008 and 2012 Olympics in Beijing and London, has been granted a universality slot (formerly known as wild card) to the Rio Olympics even when a couple of Filipina track and field athletes were still trying to qualify.
If Tabal gets the nod of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations), Torres will lose the universality slot, and will have to make the grade in a couple more qualifying events scheduled until the end of the month.
“Yes, she (Torres) will lose (slot) because universality is only given to the NOCs (National Olympic Committees) who did not qualify any athlete per gender,” said William Souza of the Rio Olympics sports entries department in a letter to the Philippine Olympic Committee.
Jose Romasanta, chef-de-mission of the Philippine delegation to Rio, and vice president of the POC, tried to inquire with the Rio Organizing Committee whether the 26-year-old Tabal is indeed in.
Tabal has resigned from the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association after the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, and competed in the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon on her own, with the backing of Milo, a staunch supporter of marathon in the Philippines.
The pride of Cebu, Tabal is the reigning Milo Marathon Champion.
Philip Juico, president of Patafa , said if indeed Tabal has met the qualifying time for the Rio Olympics, all she needs to do is to re-apply with the Patafa before the final deadline for the filing of entries to the Olympics scheduled Aug. 5 to 21.
To be a member of the Philippine Olympic team, an athlete must be a member of the national pool or the national sports association (NSA).
Tabal, through his manager, Jonel Borromeo, has scheduled a meeting with Juico to make sure everything is ironed out in time.
Another Filipina, runner Kayla Richardson, is hoping to qualify to Rio, and if Torres also makes it on her own, and Tabal gets her confirmation, then the Philippines will have three female entries in athletics.
Eric Shawn Cray, now the fastest man in Southeast Asia, is also waiting for his confirmation from the IAAF and the Rio Organizing Committee. As of now, Tabal is not in yet, according to Souza. “Until this very last weekend, Mary (Tabal) was not qualified but as far as I could check for myself she did run and apparently she did indeed beat the time to qualify,” Souza said in the letter dated June 2, 2016.
Tabal clocked 2:43:31 in Ottawa, way inside the Olympic qualifying time of 2:45:00.
“I wrote a mail to IAAF asking for confirmation,” said Souza, adding that he will return to the POC whatever information he gets regarding his inquiry.
“We are waiting for confirmation from the IAAF – whether the event that Tabal joined was an Olympic qualifying event and if she gained the (qualifying) time,” said Romasanta yesterday.
Souza also said he is also awaiting final word from the Union Cycliste Internationale ( UCI) whether Filipino BMX rider Daniel Caluag will get to compete in Rio after failing to qualify via the World BMX Championships two weeks ago in Colombia.
“The qualification period closed yesterday (June 1) and we need to wait for UCI to finish all calculations before releasing an official note on behalf of qualifiers and tripartite (universality) spots,” Souza told the POC.
So far, four other Filipino athletes have confirmed their slots to Rio. They are boxers Rogen Ladon and Charly Suarez, taekwondo’s Kirstie Elaine Alora and table tennis’ Ian Lariba. There are a others in the hunt for Rio slots, including the Philippine men’s basketball team.