The road to another Olympic gold medal had gotten a little tougher for Filipino weightlifters after their training got derailed at the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC)-organized training camp in Metz, France.

Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella told DAILY TRIBUNE that they had to relocate their training camp to a university in Germany after finding out that the Metz camp doesn’t have enough training equipment.

Together with other members of Team Philippines, Elreen Ando, John Ceniza and Vanessa Sarno have been in the French coastal city of Metz since 23 June to prepare for the weightlifting competition of the Olympics that will open on 7 August at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.

But they couldn’t launch their training due to inadequate equipment.

“They already went to Germany yesterday. They will stay there until the Olympics start,” Puentevella, a former Philippine Sports commissioner and POC chairman, said in a telephone interview.

“The equipment in Metz is inadequate. Two weeks of preparation time were wasted.”

The weightlifters are not the only Filipino athletes in Germany.

Also training in Saarbrücken are the boxing team of Olympic medalists Eumir Marcial, Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio as well as Aira Villegas and Hergie Bacyadan under the supervision of Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines secretary general Marcus Manalo.

Saarbrücken is just a mere one-hour drive away from Metz, making it easier for them to coordinate with ranking POC executives led by president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, secretary general Wharton Chan and training camp chief Nikko Huelgas.

But moving their camp should be no excuse to weightlifters.

In fact, when Hidilyn Diaz won the country’s first gold medal in Tokyo, she got stranded in Kuala Lumpur, prompting her to train with makeshift equipment using water bottles and luggages.

Then, she moved her training to the small town of Jasin in Malacca, Malaysia as the world was being battered by the Covid pandemic.

Puentevella said despite this setback, he can see the fire in the eyes of his athletes, knowing that all of them want to become the second Filipino weightlifter to win an Olympic medal.

“We have two lifters who are now ranked fourth and fifth in the world in Sarno and Ceniza, in their respective weight categories,” Puentevella said.

“Anything can happen when the Games begin.”