Rosegie Ramos competes in the women’s 49 kilogram class, finishing with a bronze medal. —REUTERS
Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo sees a myriad of possibilities for Asian junior titleholder Rosegie Ramos, with one of them being an Olympics stint in the very near future.
Ramos tagged along with Diaz-Naranjo at training camp in the United States recently, and the 19-year-old showed what she’s made of working out with the who’s who in the weightlifting world.
“The potential is really big for Rosegie to qualify for the Olympics. I saw how inspired she can get when we trained with the Olympians from Canada and the US,’’ said Diaz-Naranjo.
A Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist in the women’s -49-kilogram (kg) category, Ramos got to rub elbows with Canadian and American Olympians in a star-studded training camp in Suwanee, Georgia, for 17 days last month.
Among those were Olympic champion Maude Charron (64 kg) and Americans Katherin Vibert (76-kg Tokyo Olympics silver medalist) and two-time Pan American champion Jourdan dela Cruz, among others.
Heaping praise
Rosegie Ramos (middle) during the awarding ceremony at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship. –ASIAN WEIGHTLIFTING PHOTO
Ramos claimed the gold medal in the women’s 49 kg during the 2022 Asian Junior Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, a title that trumpeted her coming as a Diaz-Naranjo heir apparent.
“We were able to empower Rosegie in our training. I can see the promise in her,’’ said Diaz-Naranjo, who moved up to 59 kg in her bid to win another gold in the Olympics even as the heroine from Zamboanga heaped praises on the youth delegation that topped the World Championship recently in Albania.
“I’m super proud of them. Seven gold medals from Albania. I’m really happy to see that they’ve done their best for the country,’’ said Diaz-Naranjo after Albert delos Santos won two of those golds to lead the PH assault.
Rosalinda Faustino produced a gold and a silver in the women’s 55 kg, Angelina Colonia picked up a gold and a silver in the women’s 45 kg while Prince delos Santos and Erron Borres likewise struck gold medals in the men’s 49-kg class.