By REY C. LACHICA
PARIS – The pressure was too much bear and weightlifter John Febuar Ceniza dropped out of the medal race even before the competition in the 61kg class got hotter in the Paris Olympic on Wednesday, Aug. 7, at the South Paris Arena.
That’s because the Cebu City native failed not only once but thrice to clear the 125kg he declared as his starting lift in the snatch.
Was Ceniza too ambitious?
Nope. His national record in snatch is 134kg, so it was natural for the world No. 5 to kick off his medal bid that high.
He recorded that record in last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, China where he finished fourth
But to everybody’s horror, his ploy to strike fear into the hearts of his rivals backfired big time.
And for that, he got a DNF (did not finish) card right in his first attempt at Olympic glory that he was furious that it ended that way.
It was disastrous and very unfortunate.
Being a first-timer in the biggest show on earth, that will serve as a lesson in his next battle.
Still young at 26, Ceniza, who is reportedly getting a reward amounting to P200,000 from city government of Cebu, can look forward to competing at LA Games.
Up next for the 3-player PH weightlifting team is Elreen Ando who plunges into action in the women’s 59kg on Thursday.
