Sarno faces pressure test

“My goal there in Paris is to win a medal. I know everybody is saying it’s impossible for a first-timer to do it but I want to break that mindset,” said Sarno, who made the cut after emerging fourth in the IWF world ranking.

“I want to erase the belief that a first-timer can’t win an Olympic medal.”

Sarno will be competing at the heels of Ceniza’s humiliating loss that is similar to the finish posted by Hidilyn Diaz in the London Olympics in 2012.

Ceniza, also an Olympic greenhorn, said he is nursing a shoulder injury, making it harder to compete in the event ruled by Li Fabin of China, who logged a total lift of 310 kgs.

Theerapong Silachai of Thailand took home the silver medal with a total lift of 301 kgs while Hampton Morris of the United States took the bronze medal with a total lift of 298 kgs.

“It’s hard to compete if you haven’t fully recovered. The nerves on both of my shoulders are injured,” Ceniza, who failed to lift 125 kgs in snatch thrice, said.

“The pain is there. No matter how hard I wanted to focus, I couldn’t control the pain.”

Still, Ceniza is still happy to fight for the country despite the injury.

“I still competed because of the Philippines. I still fought even though I had an injury,” Ceniza said.

Vanessa Sarno will be pressured to deliver when she makes her Olympic debut in the women’s 71-kilogram event of the Summer Games early Saturday (Manila time) at the South Paris Arena 6.

Hopes are high on the 20-year-old Sarno, who will be the third and last Filipino lifter to compete after John Ceniza registered a DNF (did not finish) in the men’s 61-kg event while Elreen Ando is still seeing action at press time.

But the field that awaits her in the biggest sports event in the world is truly overwhelming.

Leading the start list is Loredana Toma of Romania, a gold medalist in the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships, as well as Olivia Reeves of the United States, who won the gold medal in the IWF World Cup in Thailand last April.

Sarno believes that getting a podium finish is possible despite making her debut in the Summer Games.