Pinoy lifters get major boost

Two-time Olympian Elreen Ando is expected to get a huge advantage in light of the new weight categories announced by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

Ando, who competed in both the Tokyo and Paris Summer Games, will have the luxury to choose whether to compete in the women’s 58-kilogram division or vie in the women’s 63-kg category.

The 26-year-old weightlifter from Cebu City is already the national record holder in the women’s 59-kg and 64-kg categories, respectively, making it favorable for her when the new weight categories take effect in June 2025.

Ando recently finished sixth after lifting a record-breaking total of 229 kgs in the women’s 64-kg event of the IWF World Championships in Bahrain.

With the new weight category in effect, Ando can go down to 59-kg and maintain the same strength and strategy she has when she was still competing in the 64-kg class.

Another weightlifter set to benefit from the weight change is Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz.

Diaz, in fact, started her Olympic journey in the 58-kg class when she competed in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Summer Games.

Diaz also owns the national record in the 58-kg event with a total lift of 224 kgs in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar, where she finished with a silver medal.

But her most favorite weight class is the 55-kg, where she made history after becoming the first Filipino to win an Olympic gold medal.

Unfortunately, the IWF scrapped the 55-kg class, forcing Diaz to move to 59-kg category, where she got outshined by Ando in the IWF World Cup in Thailand that denied her a chance to compete in what could have been her fifth Olympic stint.