SAMAHANG Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella has been assured by his Thai counterpart, Prachaya Keeratinant, that the Olympic sport would not be dropped from the roster of disciplines in the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games next year.
“I have just received a letter from the Thailand Amateur Weightlifting Association president (Keeratinant) that the sport won’t be dropped from the Thailand SEA Games,” Puentevella said in a telephone interview yesterday.
“I believe that he sent the letter after the Thai SEAG organizers announced during the SEA Games Federation meeting held over the weekend that weightlifting, along with wushu, jiu-jitsu and karate, would be dropped from the Games,” he added.
Puentevella said he was disturbed by the development that the sport that gave the country its first Olympic gold medal courtesy of Hidylin Diaz-Naranjo in the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021 would be dropped as a mainstay in the regional meet.
Pinoy lifters hoisted two gold medals in the last Cambodia SEA Games in 2023 courtesy of Olympic-bound campaigners Elreen Ann and Vanessa Sarno in the women’s 59 and 71kg divisions, respectively, on top of four silvers and one bronze.
A total of 14 golds — seven each in the men and women’s categories — were up for grabs in the Cambodia meet last year.
Puentevella was puzzled that Thailand would drop weightlifting from the SEA Games considering they were once a global powerhouse in the sport, although Thai lifters have been banned in the past by the International Weightlifting Federation due to doping.
