Polio triathlete with enlarged leg out of Para Games

MANILA, Philippines — Sprinter Cielo Honasan won’t be joining the Phl team seeing action in the third Asian Para Games set Oct. 8 to 18 in Jakarta after she was declared ineligible because one of her legs grew by less than a centimeter.

Honasan, who will turn 17 on Nov. 5, is a gold medal potential for Team Phl, having swept the 100m and 200m dash events and the 400m run in the T44/T46 division in the ninth ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year.

But in the World Youth Para Games in Dubai early this year, Phl chef de mission Francis Carlos Diaz said Honasan, a polio victim, was classified and did not make it to the minimum required disparity between the two legs at seven centimeters after she was classified somewhere around 6.75cm.

The Asian Para Games is using the same standard that measured Honasan in Dubai, making her ineligible for the Jakarta meet.

“In KL, Cielo made the cut because she was measured seven centimeters and above,” Diaz told The STAR. “But when she was classified again in Dubai and because she may have grown some muscle or just practically grew, she was measured a little different.”

Janice Ann Espino-de Vera, one of the only two Filipino classifiers in the country, said it happens to polio victims like Honasan.

“One factor in her (Honasan) pediatric age group is that until they reach the age of skeletal maturity, their classification and eligibility will not be permanent for them,” said Espino-De Vera.

This means Honasan’s stint in next year’s ASEAN Para Games, which the country will host, will also be jeopardized.

“We were advised to monitor her situation. We’re praying and hoping she will be eligible during re-classification. If not, she would have to find another sport, which allows her to compete since she is still young,” said Diaz.