Despite not finishing with a medal, Elreen Ando showed great improvement as she recorded a new personal best in Paris 2024.
No medal finish for Pinay gymnast Elreen Ando, but she recorded a new personal best in the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Ando finished in sixth place in the women’s 59kg division with a total lift of 230kg at the South Paris Arena on Thursday, August 8 (Philippine time).
She improved her seventh-place finish in the women's 64kg weightlifting event at Tokyo 2020.
Ando went down to 59kg, as Paris 2024 organizers limited the weight divisions available. She and Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz competed for the lone spot available for the Philippines--it was the Cebuana who won.
In Paris, the 25-year-old Cebuana failed on her first attempt in the snatch at 100kg but cleared it in her second attempt, equaling her personal best.
Ando tried to outdo her personal best in the third attempt at 102kg but could not complete the lift.
In the clean and jerk, Ando started off again with a failed first attempt at 130kg. She tried to clear the same weight in the second attempt, succeeding in the clean but failing to control the jerk.
In her third and final attempt, Ando made sure to close her campaign on a high, completing 130kg for a new personal best. It's two kilos higher than her previous record.
Ando’s total of 230kg was tied with Anyelin Venegas of Columbia and Rafiatu Lawal of Nigeria.
China’s Luo Shifang struck gold with hardly any challenge, breaking the Olympic total record with 241kg. She also broke the Olympic record in snatch after lifting 107kg.
Maude Charron of Canada settled for silver with a total of 236 kg, while Kuo Hsing-chun of Chinese Taipei secured the bronze medal with 235kg.