Juico awaits Cebu bet’s reapplication

PATAFA president Philip Juico said yesterday he’s not shutting the door on reinstating marathoner Mary Joy Tabal to clear the way for her to join the Philippine delegation at the Rio Olympics in August but the ball is in the 26-year-old Cebu runner’s court if she wants to reapply for the national pool.

Tabal, supported by private sponsors, competed at the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, an IAAF gold label event, last month and clocked 2:43:31 to finish within the Olympic qualifying time of 2:45. But since she left the PATAFA fold last year, Tabal must rejoin the national pool to be accredited by the POC for Rio. It’s a protocol that the IAAF requires without exception.

Late last week, Tabal’s chief backer Jonel Borromeo of Motor Ace Racing and his brother Chipi met with Juico and PATAFA secretary- general Renato Unso in the first step towards reconciliation. Tabal was out of the country at the time but has since arrived. Juico said another meeting will be held this week to thresh out the problem with Borromeo bringing Tabal along.

“The meeting is to be arranged by Jonel and I asked for a day or two notice,” said Juico. “I understand Mary Joy is now in Cebu.” Last week’s talks were reportedly productive and positive. Motor Ace, which distributes Kawasaka, Yamaha and Honda cycles, recently brought Tabal to Yokohama to train under Japanese marathoner Akio Usamu for two months.

Juico said Tabal’s decision to leave the national pool was ill-advised. “I think she’s being exploited for commercial purposes,” he said. “I’m informed that she runs five to six marathons a year and I don’t think that’s right. Dick Beardsley warned that she’ll burn out and suggested a limit of two to three marathons a year to give the body in-between rest.” Beardsley, a marathon Hall of Famer, was in town last year to assist the PATAFA coaches and motivate the national pool. He ran a close second to legendary Alberto Salazar at the 1982 Boston Marathon.

Juico explained that finishing within the Olympic qualifying mark in Ottawa is no guarantee for admission to Rio. “You just can’t go on your own and try to qualify without sanction from the NSA which is required by the IAAF,” he said. “The IAAF has lowered its qualifying standard in marathon from 2:43 to 2:45 to accommodate more participants. Obviously, you don’t want to do an Olympic marathon with only a few runners. We’re happy for Mary Joy but to go to Rio, she has to apply for reinstatement with PATAFA first then we’ll evaluate. We need to finalize our lineup before the IAAF releases the approved athletes for Rio on July 11. That means we need to resolve whatever conflicts there are by then.”

So far, only 400-meter hurdler Eric Cray has qualified for the Philippines in athletics in Rio. PATAFA has nominated long jumper Marestella Torres to go to the Olympics on a universality ticket so the Philippines can be represented by a male and female. But if Tabal or another female qualifies for Rio, it’s possible that the 35-year-old Torres may be delisted.

“If Marestella qualifies on her own and Mary Joy goes to Rio, Marestella goes, too,” said Juico. “Marestella is joining more competitions to try to qualify on her own. We’re now checking with the IAAF if Marestella can still compete under the universality principle even if Mary Joy goes.”

Torres is close to making the Olympic long jump standard of 6.7 meters. Last April, she registered a leap of 6.6 meters or 10 centimeters shy of the Olympic qualifying mark. “Marestella’s close and in long jump, there’s a little bit of luck involved,” said Juico. “It’s unlike in marathon where the Olympic record for women is 2:23:07 (set by Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana at the 2012 London Games). For Mary Joy to get to that level, she has to cover a lot more ground. Assuming you run four minutes a kilometer, that means with Mary Joy’s qualifying mark of 2:43:31, she’s five kilometers behind the winning time.”

Juico said he’s still hoping that pole vaulter E. J. Obiena and Fil-Am Kayla Richardson qualify for Rio. Richardson, 18, took the gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore last year and is in contention for the 200-meter event in Rio. Obiena, 20, bagged the silver in pole vault at the SEA Games last year and is also within reach of qualifying. “It won’t be easy to qualify but they’re still both in the race,” said Juico. “They’re training hard. It will depend on how they do in competitions in the next few weeks.”