MANILA – Filipina weightlifter Vanessa Sarno qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after a record-setting performance in the 2024 IWF World Cup on Sunday night in Phuket, Thailand.
The 20-year-old Sarno, competing in the women’s 71kg event, registered a Philippine record in the snatch event after carrying 110 kg, shattering the previous record of 108kg she also set last year.
The two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist completed her campaign in the qualifying tournament by lifting 135kg in clean and jerk for a total lift of 245kg for fifth place overall.
Sarno’s qualification also eliminated compatriot Kristel Macrohon from Summer Games after participating in the same weight class but only managing to tally a total of 233kg.
Sarno became the third Philippine weightlifter to qualify in the upcoming Olympics aside from John Ceniza and Elreen Ando in the men’s 61-kg and women’s 59 kg, respectively.
Rosegie Ramos, who was earlier reportedly to have qualified, has to wait to know her qualification status in the women’s 49-kg after dropping to 11th place after the World Cup.
Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, on the other hand, failed to earn her fifth consecutive Olympic stint after dropping outside the top 10 in the women’s 59-kg category.
Diaz-Naranjo was forced to compete in a higher weight class after the women’s 55-kg, where she won a gold in Tokyo in 2021, was not included by the Olympic organizers.
The IWF World Cup is one of two mandatory events in order to qualify for the Paris Olympics — the other being the 2023 IWF World Championships in Riyadh.
Other Filipinos to qualify for the Paris Olympics are pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan, and boxers Eumir Marcial, Aira Villegas, and Nesthy Petecio./PN
