Elreen Ando, who is set to emerge from the shadow of Hidilyn Diaz, wasn’t dreaming of being in the Tokyo Olympics.
Sure the Olympics is part of her wish list.
But her initial aim was to be in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Pinagdarasal ko nga na mag-qualify ako sa Olympics. Pero hindi ko in-expect ito. Napaaga po. Ang goal ko po ay ang 2024 Olympics,” said the 22-year-old Ando.
The Carreta, Cebu City native never had thoughts that she will be joining Diaz in Tokyo.
Ando made qualification to the quadrennial meet when she claimed three medals in the Asian Weightlifting Championships last April in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
“Sa ranking, bigla na lang ako pumasok sa Tokyo dahil nag no. 12 ako,” added Ando.
Because of this, the Philippine Sports Commission is now set to provide more assistance to Ando in her preparations for the Tokyo Games.
“Very promising ang nangyari (for weightlifting). Sabi ni Elreen, napaaga ang preparation niya for Olympics. And this is jump-starting the program of weightlifting,” said PSC national training director Marc Velasco.
The PSC official has already met the challenge of providing weightlifting equipment to the lifters at their home provinces, where they have been training for the Tashkent meet during the pandemic.
Ando made it to the Tokyo meet after participation and podium finishes gave her a chance to snare a continental allocation slot.
She is now the second lifter in the Olympic delegation next to Diaz.
Ando was discovered by coach Garry Toleno when she was still a junior high school student at the University of Cebu, which granted her a collegiate scholarship that set in motion her weightlifting journey.
The PSC is now forming a support team, which will take care of Ando’s needs. And they will be working behind her three coaches, Gary Hortelano, Christopher Bueno and Ramon Solis.
While in the Tashkent meet, Ando grabbed two silver medals and one bronze medal in the 64-kg division.
Diaz, by virtue of her stint in the Tashkent competition, has formally made to the Games in the 55-kg class.
Velasco said the biggest challenge the PSC had during the pandemic was logistics and how they brought equipment to Cebu. This helped Ando and her fellow weightlifters stay in shape.
Ando is currently ranked no. 33 in the IWF Olympic rankings, while Diaz is at 22nd place.
The top eight weightlifters in the world rankings have booked a direct qualification to Tokyo. But there is consideration of one representative from each country per weight category.
“With the result they had in the AWF, napaganda ang performance niya. And this was done while they trained in a safe environment,” said Velasco of Ando’s continuous training in Cebu.
The PSC is now assembling a support team which includes a therapist, a masseuse, a conditioning coach and a psychologist that will help Ando with her current needs.