TOKYO—The opportunity came one Olympic cycle earlier for Elreen Ando.
Ando, only 22, cracked the Tokyo Olympics when she’s actually being groomed for the Paris 2024.
But now that she’s here, the 22-year-old Cebuana vowed to give her all in the women’s 64-kg category in the weightlifting competitions at the Tokyo International Forum on Tuesday night.
“She’s a tough and brave kid, she’s a fighter,” Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella said.
Puentevella, however, said Ando’s still just a project in need of exposure, experience and polishing to hit her potential.
“The next Olympics is the target. She would be good for Paris,” said Puentevella of the association’s prized find from University of Cebu, a school with an athletic program that produced June Mar Fajardo and Dondon Hontiveros.
Good for a total lift of only 201 kgs in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, she jacked it up to 213 kgs in her silver-medal showing in the Philippines 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Ando also did a 213 kgs in her silver-medal feat in the Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, last summer.
Hidilyn Diaz’s silver-medal achievement at Rio 2016 served as a benchmark for the growth of weightlifting in the country.
And with a boost to the national team program, Puentevella is projecting four to five weightlifters making the next Olympics in the French capital.
Puentevella pointed to Ando, Kristel Macrohon and Vanessa Sarno as among their bright prospects for Paris.
Macrohon won gold in women’s 71 kgs in the 2019 SEA Games. In Tashkent, Sarno took her turn to reign supreme in the same category.
“Macrohon and Sarno are toe to toe in the 71-kg class,” Puentevella said. “The plan is to put them in separate categories so we have more chances to win the medals.”