Delos Santos delivers 2nd gold for Team PH in Kazakhstan weightlifting tilt

Sports

A 18-YEAR-OLD weightlifter from Zamboanga City flexed his immense potential in the 2025 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Albert Ian Delos Santos gave Team Philippines its second gold medal with a lift of 177 kilos in the clean & jerk of the junior men’s 71kg event over the weekend.

The lift also netted Delos Santos the silver medal in total with 313 kilos.

It was a major turnaround for Delos Santos as he was actually running fifth after the snatch event where he managed only 136 kilos. He went to win the gold by dominating the clean & jerk via countback after he and Uzbekistan’s Diyorkbek Ruzmetov tallied similar lifts.

Ruzmetov secured the gold in total with 319 kilos after a solid showing in snatch with 142 kilos.

Delos Santos’ golden lift came two months after his stellar double-gold performance in the World Juniors Championships in Lima, Peru.

Backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Team Philippines has already hauled in 16 medals composed of two golds, seven silvers, and seven bronzes.

Accounting for the country’s other gold medal was Angeline Colonia, who ruled the snatch in the Junior women's 48kg category.

The other medalists were Jhodie Peralta (3 silvers in Youth and 2 bronzes in Junior women’s 53 kg.), Jerick Icon Castro (1 silver and 2 bronzes, Youth men's 56 kg.), Princess Ann Diaz (1 silver and 2 bronzes, Youth women's 44 kg.), and Alexsandra Ann Diaz (1 silver and 1 bronze, Youth women's 48 kg.).

It was another strong showing by the country’s weighlligting team as last May, it collected 10 gold medals at the International Weightlifting Federation Youth and Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru.(CCM)