Bambol to Hidilyn: You’re still queen
APICTURE that needs no caption— Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino consoling in his arms the country’s first Olympic gold medalist, Hidilyn Diaz-naranjo. “You’re still the queen,” Tolentino tells Diaz-naranjo who only minutes before saw her name outside the magic 10 who qualified for the weightlifting competitions at the Paris Olympics.
“You are still our champion, you deserve all the honor and respect for giving our country its first gold medal,” Tolentino kept telling Diaz-naranjo.
Three years ago at the pandemic delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Diaz—she wasn’t married yet to coach and trainer Julius Naranjo—hugged Tolentino in extreme delight, in tears of joy after it sunk into her that she won the country’s first Olympic gold medal inside the Tokyo International Forum. On Wednesday night in Phuket, Diaz-naranjo, competing in a weight division three kilos heavier that -56 kgs where she won gold in Tokyo, wound up 11th in the International Weightlifting Federation World Cup, the last qualifier for Paris.
It wasn’t unexpected though, Diaz-naranjo missing a fifthstraight Olympics and another shot at the gold because -59 kgs wasn’t fit to her physique.
“’I’m sorry, Cong, I’m sorry…,” she repeatedly told me,” said Tolentino, who as the national sports association head for cycling when Diaz-naranjo made her Olympic debut as a 17-year in Beijing 2008, never ceased to follow the Zamboanga City pride’s rise to glory.
“You don’t have to say sorry, again, anak, you’re still the queen, a legend,” Tolentino told Diaz-naranjo.
Sarno in action on Sunday
VANESSA SARNO competes in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup on Sunday in Phuket hoping for a modest finish to formalize her qualification for the Paris Olympics.
Sarno, 20, is comfortably ranked as the world No. 5 in the women’s +71 kgs category that even an unforced error couldn’t prevent her from becoming the third weightlifter and the ninth Filipino athlete to qualify for Paris.
“The goal is to maintain my spot in the Olympic rankings,” the backto-back Southeast Asian Games gold medalist from Tagbilaran City told Businessmirror on Friday.
John Febuar Ceniza and Erleen Ann Ando have already qualified from the Phuket World Cup although the IWF will formally announce the athletes for Paris on April 18.
Sarno will be competing in Group B where 11 other weightlifters are vying, including compatriot Kristel Macrohon.
Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas coach Christopher Bureros said Sarno’s goal on Sunday is to keep her consistency.
“It will be a bonus if Vanessa [Sarno] wins a medal, but at the same time, she won’t be complacent,” Bureros said. “The priority is for her to qualify.”
Sarno has a best lift of 249 kgs after five Olympic qualifiers for fifth spot in the world rankings— the top 10 weightlifters get Olympic tickets.
Already headed to the Olympics set July 26 to August 11 are boxers Eumir Felix Marcial, Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio, gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan and pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena.