THE three-man Philippine weightlifting team is aware it will be carrying a big responsibility on its shoulder come the Paris Olympics.
After all, they will be competing in the very same sport that produced the country's first-ever gold medal in the Olympiad four years ago.
But for Elreen Ando, John Ceniza, and Vanessa Sarno, thinking about matching the gold medal won by Hidilyn Diaz means more pressure in their campaign in the July 26-August 11 quadrennial showcase.
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All three lifters just look forward to competing - and see how it goes.
“Sa laro hindi natin mape-predict yung panahon na makukuha natin. Pero sa aming lahat, ginagawa namin (lahat) na maabot yung gold medal,” said Ceniza, a 26-year-old native of Cebu who will be competing in the men’s 61 kg class.
Ando will be in his second straight Olympics and already has an idea on how the competition goes in sports’ biggest stage.
“Sa pagbuhat, need ko pang mag-improve talaga. Malaki pa ang kailangan para makuha yung gold. Pero ginagawa namin ang lahat sa training,” said the 25-year-old Cebuana, who clinched a spot in Paris at the expense of Diaz – her idol – in the women’s 59 kg division.
Ando, Ceniza, and Sarno were among the Paris-bound Olympians feted in a grand sendoff on Thursday jointly held by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Allianz PNB Life at the Makati Diamond Residences.
Other Olympians and Paralympians in attendance were Olympic boxing silver medalists Carl Paalam and Nesthy Petecio, and Hergie Bacyadan, and differently abled athletes Jerrold Mangliwan, Ernie Gawilan, Angel Otom, Cendy Asusano, and Agustina Bantiloc.
PSC chairman Richard Bachmann along with executive director Paulo Francisco Tatad joined Allianz chief executive officer Joseph Gross in the special event.
Diaz ended the country’s 96-year search for the elusive gold in Tokyo four years ago by topping the women’s 55 kg class behind a meet-record lift of 127 kg in the clean and jerk, and 224kg total.
She actually won back-to-back medals in the Olympics as the 33-year-old native of Zamboanga bagged a silver medal during the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympiad.
The Filipino lifters of course, are trying to manage expectations, but will be gunning for gold.
“Malaki pa ang kailangan para makuha yung gold. Pero libre naman ang mangarap,” said Ando.
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