THE Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) again booked a banner year to deserve a special recognition in the San Miguel Corp.-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Annual Awards Night.
The PSA will again confer the National Sports Association (NSA) of the Year award to the SWP following its successful campaign from the Southeast Asian region all the way to the world championships anchored on Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo.
The 32-year-old Diaz-Naranjo was a class act in the 88th International Weightlifting Federation World Championships in Bogota last December with a three-gold medal sweep in the women’s 55kg class—a fitting follow up to the historic first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021.
For her back-to-back golden triumphs, the pride of Zamboanga City will be the recipient of the PSA Athlete of the Year award for the second straight time.
The SWP shared NSA of the Year honors with the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) in 2021. The ABAP contributed two silver medals—Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam—and one bronze—Eumir Felix Marcial—at the Tokyo Olympics.
The SWP will receive the award on March 6 at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel during the gala night presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV and supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Milo, Smart, MVP Sports Foundation, Rain or Shine, 1Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, Philippine Basketball Association, OKBet International Container Terminal Services Inc. and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
The weightlifting association led by its president Monico Puentevella, however, is more than just Diaz-Naranjo in 2022.
Vanessa Sarno began to make her presence felt after the 18-year-old lass blew the competition away in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in women’s 71 kgs for the country’s second gold medal after Diaz-Naranjo in the 55 kgs class in Vietnam.
Two months later in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Sarno anchored the Philippine team’s campaign in the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships.
The Bohol native booked another sweep of the junior women’s division to lead the 15 gold medal haul by the Filipino athletes.