By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Ladies and gentlemen, we are seeing the next Hidilyn Diaz.
Carrying her title as a champion during the 2022 Asian Youth and Junior Championship, the young and upcoming Vanessa Sarno didn’t disappoint and took the gold medal in the women’s 71-kg weightlifting category during the 2023 Southeast Asian Games last May 15, 2023, held at the Olympic Complex in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sarno steamrolled her way to the championship title and recorded one of the best individual weightlifting performances in the history of the SEA Games after lifting a total of 225 kg.
It was a big disparity to Thipwara Chontavin of Thailand who won the silver medal after scoring a total of 208 kg.
From the get-go, Sarno immediately found her groove as the youngster from Bohol comfortably completed her sets in both categories.
Unlike the other participants where they would fumble their attempts mostly in the clean and jerk, Sarno looked composed after a flawless routine that wowed the crowd.
Sarno immediately turned heads after only needing one attempt to surpass the 95-kg weight, later on increasing it to a total of 105 kg to take solo lead.
The youngster then capped off her 2023 SEA Games run after registering 120 kg in the clean and jerk to give team PHL its second gold medal in the event.
Completing the list of the podium finishers were Chontavin, Indonesia’s Restu Anggi who had 206 kg, and Thi My Le Nam of Vietnam who lifted a total of 205 kg.
Before heading into the SEA Games, Sarno already gained momentum after dominating in the 2022 Asian Youth and Junior Championships held at the Yunusobod Sports Complex in Tashkent, Uzbekistan when she won three gold medals.
