Puentevella: No expectations

The Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) is tempering its expectations heading into the Paris Olympics that will open this Friday.

SWP president Monico Puentevella brushed off speculations that they are out to win another medal following the inclusion of Vanessa Sarno in the list of athletes favored to win by the Asian Weightlifting Federation.

Sarno, the 20-year-old pride of Tagbilaran City in Bohol, was billed as one of the best Asian lifters in the women’s 71-kilogram after posting a best total lift at 249 kilograms in the IWF World Grand Prix 2 in Doha last December.

She joined Hou Zhixhi (49-kg), Luo Shifang (59-kg), and Li Wenwei (+81-kg) of China and Kim Suhyeon (81-kg) of South Korea in the elite list of Asian lifters expected to win in Paris.

Still, Puentevella refused to get complacent.

“No expectations,” said Puentevella in a telephone interview while waiting for his flight to the French capital on Tuesday afternoon, where lifters Sarno, John Ceniza and Elreen Ando are already waiting.

“We thank Asian Weightlifting for recognizing the ability of Vanessa. But we don’t want to get complacent. We know that she’s still young and this is just her first Olympic appearance. It’s still a long way to go.”

Puentevella cited the case of Hidilyn Diaz, the first Filipino to win an Olympic gold medal.

“It also took a while before she won an Olympic medal,” said Puentevella, referring to Diaz, who competed as a 14-year-old rookie in the Beijing Games in 2008 before suffering a DNF (Did Not Finish) in the London event in 2012.

Finally, Diaz bagged the silver medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 before winning the gold medal in Tokyo three years ago.

“Winning the Olympics is all about experience. You have to compete actively before you can finally win it. That’s why I’m tempering my expectations. She’s still young. She still has LA (Los Angeles Olympics) in 2028 to further improve.”

“But if she pulls off a surprise and win a medal, that will be great,” Puentevella said before hanging up the phone.