TOKYO. – Elreen Ann Ando is capable of doing a Hidilyn Diaz. Just wait.
Although she was just good for a seventh-place finish with a total lift of 222kg in her Olympic debut last Tuesday, weightlifting officials got excited in what they saw in Ando.
“That girl is good. Take care of her,” Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella said, parroting International Weightlifting Federation secretary-general Hasan Jalood Mohammed when they had a short chat on the sidelines of the competition.
“That’s the same thing Hasan Mohammed told me when he first saw Hidilyn (Diaz),” Puentevella added.
Himself seeing Ando as a future champ, Puentevella said they’re ready to invest on the 22-year-old lifter from Cebu City.
“What I’m doing to Ando is what I did to Hidilyn,” Puentevella said shortly before he, Diaz and their team left for Manila on Wednesday.
Ando was over 10 kilograms short of the winning lift of eventual 64kg gold-medal winner Maude Charron from Canada.Silver-medal winner Giorgia Bordignon of Italy was also way ahead of Ando with a total lift of 232kg.
But Puentevella is hoping a good program can improve Ando and make her a medal contender in future Olympics, like the 2021 Games in Paris, France.
For a first-time Olympian, Ando’s lift will do, according to Puentevella. After all, Diaz took three Olympics (Beijing, London, Rio) before she won a medal.
But Ando won’t take three to medal in the games, according to Puentevella.
“Hinog na si Elreen sa 2024 Paris Olympics,” said Puentevella. “She is our project for 2024, together with Vanessa Sarno. Magaling lang talaga kaya nasama na kaagad sa Tokyo.”
Also on Tuesday, Filipino-Japanese Kiyomi Watanabe lost to Spain’s Cristina Cabana Perez1-0in the women’s minus 63kg elimination round of judo.
Swimmer Remedy Rule qualified for the semifinals of the women’s 200-meter butterfly after she placed 15th overall in the heats at the Tokyo Aquatics Center Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Southeast Asian Games silver medalist clocked 2:12.23 in Heat 3. She finished last but still squeezed into the semifinals set Wednesday.
But Rule failed to qualify for the semifinals of the women’s 100-meter butterfly.
Luke Gebbiefailed in his bid in the men’s 100-meter freestyle. His effort did not go to naught, however, as he clocked 49.64 seconds, a new Philippine record, although he ranked just 35th out of 71 swimmers. The top 16 qualified for the semifinals.
