Ando (top of the podium) with Elaika Lozada (second from left), and Team Cebu City’s Mary Margarette Miparanum (second from right) during the awarding ceremony.
Glendale Rosal
CEBUANA Elreen Ann Ando showcased her might in the 6-in-1 National Weightlifting Championships at the SM Seaside City Cebu on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Ando of Barangay Carreta, Cebu City, snatched three gold medals to boost her chances of qualifying for the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) next year that the Philippines will be hosting.
Ando, a varsity lifter of the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters, dominated the junior, open, and secondary divisions of the 64kg division.
“I am confident that I will get chosen to represent our country in the SEA Games that’s why I did my best to win three gold medals,” Ando told Cebu Daily News.
According to Ando, her stint in the Asian Games last August in Jakarta, Indonesia, played a huge factor in her dominating performance in this competition and in her stint in the SEAG.
Ando finished third to North Korean Olympians Kim Hyo Sim and Hyo Sim Choe, who bagged the gold and silver medal, respectively, in the 63kg division.
“The biggest lesson I learned from [the Asian Games] is to give everything in each lift. That is why I will work and train hard to improve,” Ando said.