Sarno confident; Ando cautious

Vanessa Sarno vows to deliver a weightlifting medal even as a debutante in the 2024 Paris Olympics while second-timer Elreen Ando swears she has to ramp up her game in order to make a podium finish.

“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,” Sarno, who will see action in the 71-kilogram class, said.

“I want to erase the belief that a first-timer can’t win an Olympic medal,” the 20-year-old from Bohol said.

Sarno’s confidence level stemmed from her gold medal-winning performance in the 2021 Asian championships and her back-to-back triumphs in the Southeast Asian Games in 2022 and 2023.

While Sarno is oozing with confidence, the 25-year-old Ando, who will be taking part in her second Olympics, is keeping her feet planted on the ground.

“I need to double my training to get a medal in Paris, My lifting technique has to be good for me to execute better lifts,” Ando, who hails from Cebu, said.

Since going down from 64-kg to 59-kg, Ando won a gold medal in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia and a silver medal in the 2024 Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent last February.

During the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, Ando bagged the 64-kg bronze.

Sarno and Ando are two of three lifters already assured of a Paris stint. The other is John Ceniza.

A fourth entry could be Rosegie Ramos, whose fate will be known next month.

The final list of Olympic qualifiers will be released by the International Weightlifting Federation on 24 May.