Mary Joy Tabal on SEA Games gold: ‘Para akong nanalo ng Olympics’

Jane Bracher

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Mary Joy Tabal on SEA Games gold: ‘Para akong nanalo ng Olympics’
From jeers and discouragement in 2009 when Mary Joy Tabal collapsed during her first 10k run, to cheers and love in 2017 after winning her SEA Games gold

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Mary Joy Tabal woke up on Sunday morning, August 20, rolled over to her bedside table, and picked up her gold medal. She took a good look at it and wondered, “what’s with this gold medal? Is it really this heavy and a huge deal?”

She came to the conclusion that, obviously, it was. The outpouring of support and congratulatory messages was her totem reminding her that she had achieved something great, and that all of it was happening in reality, and not in a dream.

Tabal, 28, won the first gold medal for the Philippines on Saturday, August 19 at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games marathon in Putrajaya, completing the race with a time of 2:48:26, well ahead of her competitors.

She broke down in tears at the finish line, finally consenting to feeling the immensity of emotions she had suppressed minutes earlier, when she was in the final loop and was trying hard to ward off excitement for fear of a catastrophe robbing her of the win.

Tears of joy talaga. Yung feeling ko na lahat ng pinagdaanan ko, yung hirap, training, yung sacrifices ko, parang nagbunga siya lahat. Despite (of the fact) I was a little pressured to really deliver a good performance,” she told Rappler.

(Tears of joy really. I just felt that all of the things I went through, the hardships, the training, my sacrifices, it all paid off.)

Worth it para sa akin, rewarding yung victory ko (My victory is worth it). I’m not running only for myself, I’m running for our country.”

It can’t be overstated what Tabal went through to reach the finish line and have a shiny gold medal hanging around her neck, for her starting line wasn’t at Putrajaya in the wee hours of August 19. In fact, her journey to the finish line started as early as June.

Tabal’s camp and the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) had been in conflict a few months ago that led to the Olympic marathoner getting axed from the SEA Games lineup of the Philippines. For a time a dark cloud hovered over Tabal and it distracted her from her training in Italy at the time, she admitted. 

But her resolve and belief that she would make it to Malaysia powered her through and any differences were eventually settled and Tabal was reinstated into the national team.

Winning a gold medal, a follow-up to her silver from 2015, and the first one for the country in the Games, seemed like poetic redemption after the athletics federation chief himself once said the federation doesn’t like Tabal.

At this point, with all issues resolved and a gold medal delivered, Tabal and PATAFA are eager to move forward.

“I have nothing to prove with PATAFA also. I’m doing this for our country and I know my federation is doing it also for our country,” Tabal said.

PATAFA president Philip Juico even rewarded Tabal – as well as fellow marathoner Jeson Agravante, who failed to finish his run – by extending her stay in Malaysia to support her fellow national team members.

Tabal has been on a high since her big win. She’s met friends and watched teammates compete in other sports. The love she’s been getting from everyone also seemed like sweet vindication nearly a decade since she started training for long distance running in 2009.

At the time, when she collapsed at the finish line of her first 10k run and woke up in the hospital, the messages she received weren’t of concern from her peers, but criticism and discouragement. 

“Mary Joy, you’re trying too hard. Wala kang lugar dito sa long distance running. Sprinter ka lang (You don’t have a place here in long distance running. You’re just a sprinter),” she was told then.

Eight years later, with her victory, the cheers have drowned out jeers.

Parang nanalo na rin ako ng gold medal sa Olympics (It’s like I won a gold medal in the Olympics),” she said. – Rappler.com

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