Elreen Ando finishes strong for sixth place at Paris Olympics

Elreen Ann Ando of the Philippines competes during the women’s 59kg weightlifting event at the Paris Olympics 2024, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Elreen Ando may not have seized a medal, but she earned the respect of the crowd in the women’s weightlifting 59-kilogram division of the Paris Olympics.

The packed audience at South Paris Arena roared as Ando completed her clean and jerk sequence at 130kg in her final try, allowing the Filipino to at least take home a new personal best and finish in sixth place.

Ando exited the medal hunt with a total of 230kgs.

China’s Luo Shifang won the gold with an Olympic record of 241kg, making it three-for-three for the Chinese in the weightlifting competitions so far. Canada’s Maude Charron finished with silver at 236 while Kuo Hsing Chun of Chinese Taipei settled for bronze with a 235.

Kuo, the 25-year-old two-time Olympian missed twice in both the snatch and the clean and jerk.

Ando shook off a poor start in the snatch, failing to lift 100kgs on her first attempt.

Philippines’ Elreen Ann Ando competes in the women’s -59kg weightlifting event during the Paris Olympics 2024 at the South Paris Arena in Paris, on August 8, 2024. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)

The Cebuano lifter, however, picked it up in her second attempt, wobbling slightly to the side before steadying herself for a successful lift that guaranteed she would progress to the clean and jerk.

Unlike in other international weightlifting competitions that award medals for total, snatch and clean and jerk, the Olympics gives a medal only for the total. Thus, three misses in the scratch means a participant can no longer progress to the clean and jerk.

Ando went for 102 in her final lift but flubbed that one, too.

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After the break, Ando went with 130 as her initial lift for the clean and jerk, 2kg more than her personal best.

She missed the first and managed to polish off the clean in the second but was driven to her knee during the jerk.

In the third try, Ando controlled the jerk well enough to gain the nod of three judges.

Ando and John Ceniza are thus done with their stint in the Paris Olympics.

Ceniza went three-and-out during the snatch in the men’s 61kg before and failed to progress to the clean and jerk after competing with a sore shoulder.

The Philippine weightlifting squad is now pinning its hopes on the young Vanessa Sarno, an Asian senior and junior champion. Sarno will compete at 71kg on Saturday.