Lifter Elreen Ando bags bronze in worlds; Delos Santos sets junior record
Published Oct 6, 2025 11:06 am
At A Glance
- The 26-year-old Cebuana lifted 131 kilograms to finish third in the women's 63kg clean & jerk behind North Korea's Ri Suk and 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion and 2024 Paris silver medalist Maude Charron of Canada, who posted 142 kilos and 133 kilos, respectively.
Elreen Ando (File Photo)
Two-time Olympian Elreen Ando lived up to her billing and bagged one bronze medal in the 2025 IWF World Weightlifting Championships over the weekend in Forde, Norway.
The 26-year-old Cebuana lifted 131 kilograms to finish third in the women’s 63kg clean & jerk behind North Korea’s Ri Suk and 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion and 2024 Paris silver medalist Maude Charron of Canada, who posted 142 kilos and 133 kilos, respectively.
Ando, however, came close to a podium finish in total with her 231 kilos -- similar to eventual bronze medalist Yenny Sinisterra Torres of Colombia -- but settled for fourth after tiebreaks were applied.
The Colombian was first to achieve their identical total lift on her first attempt in the clean and jerk, while the Filipina managed it on her second try.
Ando started her campaign with a lift of 100 kilos in snatch to trail at sixth place, but picked herself up in clean and jerk.
Ri ruled the weight class with a total lift of 253 kilos -- 111 kilos in snatch and 142 kilos in clean and jerk. Charron came in second with 236 kilos (103 kilos in snatch and 133 in clean and jerk).
Meanwhile, Albert Ian Delos Santos set a new junior world record in his weight class.
The 19-year-old Zamboanga native lifted an impressive 185 kilograms on his third attempt in the clean and jerk in the men’s 71kg division, finishing fifth overall against a field of more experienced and older competitors.
Delos Santos began his campaign by lifting 137 kilos in the snatch, placing 12th — 11 kilos short of the junior world standard of 148kg.
He finished eighth overall with a total lift of 322 kilos, just six kilos shy of the junior world standard total of 328kg.
Thailand’s Weeraphon Wichuma, who is two years older than Delos Santos, bagged the gold medal with a total lift of 346 kilos. He was fourth in snatch with 152 kilos before ruling clean & jerk with a lift of 194 kilos.
Japan’s Masanori Miyamoto posted just one kilo lighter than Wichuma to finish with a silver in total at 345 kilos, while He Yueji clinched the bronze with 344 kilos.