IT’S not an Olympic gold medal but Marestella Torres’s mint in women’s long jump of the Asian Athletics Championships in Guangdong, China, could glitter like one at these times when Philippine sports only has professional boxer Manny Pacquiao to be proud of.

Ranked sixth in the season, Torres leapt as if there was no tomorrow—also unmindful of the credentials of her world-class rivals that included the continent’s No. 1—to a gold medal-clinching 6.51 meters on Tuesday.

She achieved the feat in a rain-delayed finals that took four hours to complete.

Imagine a Lakers’ backcourt of Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant. Close your eyes for a few seconds and envision the Magic Man pounding the rock on the fast break, his eyes darting, options all over the place and on the wing is Bryant, outrunning everyone to make sure he’s in Johnson’s line of sight for one of those beautiful passes.

The pressure is off, and Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman said the team is now playing “much better.”

Smart Gilas scored its first win in the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup on Friday, beating Coca-Cola, 98-93, in its first match since the league declared as no-bearing its games in the All-Filipino tournament.