By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The era of weightlifting queen Hidilyn Diaz may have ended, but the future of the sport in the country still looks great.
That’s because three promising weightlifters virtually qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics — the most in almost four decades – guaranteeing
Vanessa Sarno was the latest addition to the Paris-bound PH team after maintaining her fifth-place position in the Olympic qualification rankings at the conclusion of the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand over the weekend.
The 20-year-old Boholano standout actually finished fifth in the women’s 71kg event with a total lift of 245 kgs — a record-breaking 110kg in snatch and 145kg in clean & jerk — but her best performance of 249kg in the Doha World Cup last December puts her inside the Top 10 that would compete in the Games.
She will join John Febuar Ceniza and Elreen Ando, who also virtually claimed Paris tickets in the men’s 61kg and women’s 59kg, respectively, while Rosegie Ramos awaits her fate in the women’s 49kg when the official list is released next month.
The last time the country sent three lifters to the Games was in 1988, where Gregorio Colonia, Samuel Alegada and Ramon Solis competed in Seoul, South Korea.
After that, no Filipino lifter qualified to the Olympics in the coming editions until in the 2008 Beijing, where then 17-year-old Diaz was selected as a wildcard entry that eventually paved the way to her successful career highlighted by winning a gold in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Though country’s first Olympic gold medalist was unsuccessful to qualify for a fifth straight Olympics, PH weightlifting seems to be in great hands.
Ceniza, 26, is said to be a potential medalist, while Ando, 25, and Sarno are expected to make heads turn in their respective weight classes.
Ando, who actually surpassed Diaz for a spot in the Games, is on her second Olympics appearance.
