VANESSA Sarno boosted her qualifying bid for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games yesterday, bagging three silver medals in the women’s 71kg division of the 53rd Asian Weightlifting Championships in Jinju, South Korea.
Sarno, 19, finished second overall with lifts of 107, 132 and 239 kilos in the snatch, clean-and-jerk and total lifts, respectively, and emerged as the No. 6 overall weightlifter in the division rankings of the International Weightlifting Federation.
Her strong performance should be a great morale booster as she seeks to retain her title in the same division in the 32nd Cambodia SEA Games weightlifting meet opening this Saturday.
The pride of Tagbilaran, Bohol finished second overall in all categories to China’s phenomenal Liao Guifang, who swept all three golds in record-breaking fashion, hoisting 120 (snatch), 148 (clean-and-jerk) and 268 (total lift), respectively.
The Chinese former world junior champion shattered the snatch record 119 kilos set by Romania’s Loredana Elena Toma during last year’s world championships in Bogota, Colombia and the 267 kilos in the combined lifts set by compatriot Zhang Wangli in the 2018 edition in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Guifang’s exploits boosted her to the top of the IWF rankings in the weight division.
Sarno’s compatriot, Kristel Macrohon, had a lackluster outing and could only muster 98 kg in the snatch (No. 8), 120 in the clean-and-jerk (No. 9) and 218 (No. 8) in total lifts.
Speaking from Jinju, weightlifting chief Monico Puentevella said he was satisfied by the outing of the national team, noting the country had three potential Olympians in three weight classes.
“We have either Hidylin Diaz or Elreen Ann Ando in the women’s 59kg, John Fabuar Ceniza, who finished fifth in the men’s 61kg and, of course, Vanessa in the women’s 71kg,” Puentevella said.
“Hopefully, Ando, Ceniza and Sarno can all win golds as well in Cambodia,” he said, adding he intends to join the team in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
