Asian Games: Elreen Ando bags weightlifting bronze
The Philippines’ Elreen Ann Ando competes in the women’s 64kg group A weightlifting competition during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on October 2, 2023. (Photo by Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)
HANGZHOU, China—Elreen Ann Ando redeemed herself from a disastrous campaign in the continental championships by picking up a bronze medal in women’s weightlifting in the 19th Asian Games.
The Tokyo Olympian from Cebu lifted a total of 222 kilograms from a combined output of 96 in the snatch and 126 in the clean and jerk on Monday evening before an appreciative crowd at the Xiaoshan Sports Centre Gymnasium here.
Ando’s podium performance gave Philippine weightlifting its first medal in the tournament and rewarded the country an eighth bronze in these Games.
“I was really upset when I lost in the Asian championships. This medal made up for that disappointment,” said Ando, who captured a gold medal in the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games early this year.
With this lift, Elreen Ando is already assured of a bronze medal in the women’s 64kg here at the 19th Asian Games pic.twitter.com/sIjdQK5HeG
— June Navarro (@junavINQ) October 2, 2023
She fumbled in the women’s 59kg in the Asian championships held in Jinju, South Korea prior to her SEA Games title.
North Korea’s Unsim Rim registered a new Asian Games record in the snatch (111kgs), clean and jerk (140) and total (251) on her way to the gold while Pei Xinyi of China settled for the silver with a total of 234.
Ando is set to receive a cash windfall of P500,000 from the Philippine Sports Commission for her feat and a lot more from private sponsors and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
“I want to reward myself with a new house with this win. It will also serve as a gift to myself when I celebrate my birthday next month,” said the 24-year-old breadwinner, who lost his father to a heart ailment shortly after her stint in the Tokyo Olympics.
Ando temporarily switched to 64kg in the Asiad and will revert to 59kgs in an effort to continue her Olympic qualification bid for the next year’s Paris Olympics.
She will clash head on with Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo in the same weight category in a pair of world cup tournaments in Doha, Qatar in December and in Thailand in February.
