Chonburi: Elreen Ando secured the Philippines' first gold medal in weightlifting at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games held at the Chonburi Sports School. The 27-year-old athlete dominated the women's 63kg category, lifting a total of 229 kilograms, with 98 kilograms in the snatch and 127 kilograms in the clean and jerk. This victory marks Ando's second SEA Games gold, following her 2023 triumph in Cambodia in the 59kg category.

According to Philippines News Agency, Ando's gold medal came as a relief to the Philippine weightlifting team, which had only managed a silver through Albert Delos Santos in the men's 71kg category the day before. Despite being a favorite due to her bronze medal at the World Championships last October, Ando experienced tense moments during her snatch attempts, barely succeeding with lifts of 96 and 98 kilograms before concluding with 102 kilograms.

In the clean and jerk, Ando initially failed at 123 kilograms but confidently secured the weight on her second attempt, effectively clinching the gold. To further solidify her victory, she added four kilograms in her final attempt. Her success was celebrated by the Philippine weightlifting team, including Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz.

Reflecting on her performance, Ando shared, "I probably got carried away on the first attempt, it's really hard to lift the first attempt when all the nervousness is there, you're thinking a lot about how to lift it. Then the second attempt, I told myself that I knew I could do it, and I was just lifting it in training." Emphasizing the importance of her clean and jerk performance, she added, "When it comes to the clean and jerk, I need to get the gold so we have gold now."

Nguyen Thi Thuy Tien of Vietnam took the silver medal with a total lift of 219 kilograms, while Thanaporn Saetia of Thailand claimed the bronze with 218 kilograms.