By Brian Yalung
Mary Joy Tabal, 2016 Rio Olympic marathoner, has not been spared from adjusting to the new normal as far as competitions are concerned. But one thing that will not be altered is her wedding plans.
After getting engaged to Lt. Junior Grade Hector Dan Jimenez of the Philippine Navy back in January, the 32-year-old from Cebu City revealed in an exclusive their actual wedding date.
Tabal and Jimenez plan to tie the knot on Jan. 8, 2022.
“The date is set on Jan. 8 and will be formalized soonest!” Tabal said to this writer in an interview.
However, Tabal admits that it is only one of several things she needs to attend to. When marrying someone in service, she says, there are requirements of the Navy that need to be complied with.
“I enjoy preparing for it, we have had ample time to prepare since early this year. [The] pandemic is giving us a hard time but at least we [have been] preparing for it for a year, so we have it controlled,” Tabal said.
“Since my other half is in the service, I have additional things to comply [with] like the requirements when marrying a serviceman which looks like me applying to be a soldier,” she added.
But along with that comes Tabal’s plans to continue competing. She admits that she planned to join some races despite the pandemic. Unfortunately, she got no confirmation and most races remain postponed.
One tournament she planned to join is the Tokyo Marathon which was postponed to October of this year. However, she learned that only Japanese nationals will be allowed to compete.
Tabal and Jimenez originally planned to get married after the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games. But even with the biennial sports meet postponed due to COVID-19, their wedding plans remain on course although with some slight adjustments.
“We did plan to wed after the SEA Games. When it was postponed, Dan and I continued to talk about it – especially because he wanted to have a baby,” Tabal explained.
These are things that Joy and Dan want to iron out. But one thing that is for sure, Tabal still plans to compete in the future but all that hinges on the couple being able to work things out.
“If we could fix those things, I still look forward to competing next year. It depends how tomorrow will work for us,” Tabal said. – jlo
