Elreen Ann Ando of Cebu during her attempt on the snatch in the women’s -59kg division of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships. | Screen grab from the live streaming
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Cebuana Olympian weightlifter Elreen Ann Ando showed her potential in the lighter -59 kilogram division of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships by placing fifth overall in her debut last Saturday, December 11, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The 23-year-old pride of Barangay Carreta, Cebu City, debuted in the much lighter -59kg from the -64kg division which she competed in the Tokyo Olympics in July.
She lifted a total of 214kgs. Ando placed third in the snatch by lifting her best of 98kg and went on lifting a total of 116kg in the clean and jerk after failing in her first two attempts.
Nevertheless, Ando still made a nice impression on her first try in the lighter weight division with the fifth-place finish after determining the combined scores of Groups A, B, and C.
During her debut in the Olympics, Ando settled for the seventh-place under the -59kg division.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist and world record holder Kuo Hsing Chun of Taiwan ruled the competition as expected.
She lifted a total of 230kg and bagged three medals in total. She won two gold medals for topping the overall -59kg competition and her 130kg best lift on the clean and jerk. She bagged a silver medal in her 100kg snatch.
Yenny Alvarez of Colombia placed second behind Chun to earn the silver medal. She lifted a total of 226kg while Russia’s Olga Te settled for bronze with a total lift of 218kg.
So far, there are no medals for the 10-man Filipino weightlifters competing in the world championships. Last week, Cebuano Fernando Agad debuted in the competition at eighth place in the men’s -55kg division.
Elien Perez also settled for eighth place in the -49kg division, while Diaz did not finish in the -45kg division after faltering three times in her attempts in the snatch.
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