Ando, Delos Santos gun for world glory

Two-time Olympian Elreen Ando and junior world champion Albert Ian delos Santos will shoot for medals when they compete in the IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Forde, Norway.

Ando will be seeing action in the women’s 63-kilogram event at 11 p.m. on Sunday (Manila time), hoping to finally win a medal after the country’s first two bets came up short. 

Delos Santos, a gold medalist in the World Youth and Junior Championships in Lima, Peru last February, will have a taste of competing in the senior division as he vies in the men’s 71kg event at 1:30 a.m. on Monday.

It has been a fruitless campaign for the Filipinos so far as Rosegie Ramos finished ninth in the women’s 48kg event after tallying 80 kgs in the snatch and 96 kgs in the clean-and-jerk for a total lift of 196 kgs.

Fernando Agad Jr. also emerged empty-handed as he settled for eighth in the men’s 60-kg event with a 120 kgs in snatch and 155 kgs in clean and jerk for a total of 275 kgs.

But Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella refused to get disheartened by the results, saying that they should wait for the outcome of Ando’s performance before making any assessment.

“Let’s finish all the events before I judge all of them,” Puentevella said.

“This is also our tryout for the Southeast Asian and Asian Games so they must perform — or else.” 

With that, the pressure to deliver is on Ando, who is being groomed to win a medal in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

In the Paris Summer Games, Ando posted a total lift of 230 kgs in the women’s 59-kg event to finish in sixth place. Now she has a chance to showcase her talents against the best in the world in the tournament that serves as a prelude to the next edition of the Summer Olympics.

Although gold medalist Luo Shifang of China will not be seeing action, Paris Games silver medalist Maude Charron of Canada will pose a major challenge to Ando’s quest for glory.