TOKYO - Elreen Ando gave a good account of herself in her Olympic debut, finishing sixth in a field of 10 women in the 64-kilogram division of the weightlifting competition on Tuesday night at the Tokyo International Forum.
Among the last in the 19-man Philippine team to qualify for the Tokyo Games, the 22-year old debutant hardly looked fazed by her surroundings as she made four of six attempts and for a while stayed close to the giants in the division.
The Cebuana's 222-kilogram effort built on a snatch of 100kg and a clean and jerk of 122kg put her seventh - eight kilos out of a medal and 14 kg behind gold medal winner Maude Charron of Canada (236kg).
Italy's Giorgia Bordignon [232kg] settled for the silver while Chen Wen-huei [230kg] of Chinese-Taipei bagged the bronze medal.
Ando's courageous performance concluded a historic finish in weightlifting, which delivered the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal in 97 years of participation courtesy of Hidilyn Diaz in the 55kg division.
On Monday, Diaz, competing in her fourth Olympics at 30, set two Olympic records in the clean and jerk (127kg) and the total (224kg) to beat China's reigning world champion and record holder Liao Qiuyun in a thrilling finale.
Diaz, Ando and the rest of the weightlifting contingent are set to fly home to the Philippines on Thursday and head straight to the Sofitel Hotel for the mandatory seven-day quarantine for vaccinated travellers.
That leaves 11 out of the 19 Filipino Olympians still in the running for golds – the four boxers Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial, Carlo Paalam and birthday girl Irish Magno, golfers Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Juvic Pagunsan, trackster Kristina Knott, pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, Carlos Yulo and swimmer Remedy Rule, who qualified for the semifinals of the women’s 200-meter butterfly after she placed 15th overall in the heats at the Tokyo Aquatics Center Tuesday.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
