By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Lovely Inan has come a long way from scavenging metal scraps and plastic bottles to becoming one of Philippine weightlifting’s promising athletes.
This after the 18-year-old secured the silver medal in her maiden appearance at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at the National Olympic Stadium over the weekend.
The Grade 11 student of Angono National High School said she wasn’t expecting to make it to the podium given her limited experience in international meets.
“Siguro ine-expect ko na magbo-bronze lang ako, pero hindi ko akalain na makaka-silver pa ako. Hindi pa rin nagsi-sink in sa akin,” said Inan, who tallied 178 total to finish behind eventual winner Sanikun Tanasan of Thailand (191) in the women’s 49kg division.
Even her love for the sport came as a surprise, as she only discovered weightlifting while she was passing through her coach’s weightlifting gym on their home from a day of scavenging.
“Dumadaan po kasi kami doon sa bahay ni coach, may hawak kaming mga sako ng bakal-bote. Tapos naririnig ko yung malalakas na bagsak. Isang araw tinanong ako ni coach kung gusto kong mag-weightlifting. Sumabay ako sa mga una nyang tine-train,” she said.
“Simula noon, nagustuhan ko na.”
A member of the national team for only two years, Inan has already set her sights on big goals – to make it to the Olympics.
Not impossible as far as PH weightlifting history was concerned: Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz actually saw action in the 2008 Beijing Games when she was just 17 years old.
“Sana po makapag-Olympics. Yun po talaga ang goal ko kaya focus lang po ako sa training,” Inan said.
