Elreen Ando set personal bests during her comeback to the Olympic stage, although she did not place in the top three of the women's 59kg weightlifting competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
After competing in the 64kg division at the Tokyo Games three years prior, Ando moved to a smaller weight class and finished the competition respectably in sixth place.
Ando carried 230 kilograms in total, setting personal records in the snatch and clean and jerk events with 100 kg and 130 kg, respectively.
Falling short
Ando started the competition off with a successful second-round lift of 100 kg in the snatch, but her third-round attempt to set a personal best of 102 kg was fruitless.
Ando needed three tries to successfully lift 130 kg in the clean and jerk, setting a new personal record, but her total lift was not enough to reach the podium.
Meanwhile, Luo Shifang, the reigning world champion from China, defeated two Tokyo gold medalists and broke every Olympic record in the class with a 107 kg snatch, 134 kg clean and jerk, and 341 kg total.
Proud Hidilyn Diaz
Weightlifting Filipina legend Hidilyn Diaz watched Ando in Paris, saying that it brings back memories of her Olympic exploits, specifically her Rio Olympics silver medal finish eight years ago.
“As I am in Paris to be an athlete’s representative at the Weightlifting Events, all the memories of the Olympics come rushing back. Today marks exactly eight years since my Rio Olympics silver medal,” Diaz wrote on social media.
Diaz was a spectator in all three weightlifting events participated by Filipino athletes.
Ando eclipsed Diaz for a spot in the Paris Olympics at the IWF World Cup last April.
