By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Philippine national weightlifting team recently made waves during the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Youth and Junior Championships after snagging five gold medals on May 1, 2025, in Lima, Peru.
The trio of Jay-R Colonia, Althea Bacaro, and Alexsandra Ann Diaz triumphed in their respective weight classes and joined hands to deliver the PHL’s gold medals.
In the Men’s Youth 49-kg weight class, Colonia stood out in Group A of the pool and bagged two of the country’s five golds.
Colonia kicked off his gold medal heist with a winning lift of 121 kg in the clean and jerk category while following it up with a total of 221 kg to bring home the overall gold medal.
Aside from his back-to-back golds, Colonia also won a silver medal in the snatch category, lifting a total of 94 kg to increase his personal medal tally to three.
Joining Colonia in the PHL’s winning party is Bacaro from Cebu, who reigned supreme in the snatch category of the women’s youth 40-kg division with a winning lift of 58 kg.
Just like Colonia, Bacaro also pulled through in the overall tally and placed second with a total lift of 130 kg while also nabbing bronze in the clean and jerk.
Last but not the least, the PHL’s last gold medal was handed by Diaz, who turned heads in the women’s 45-kg division.
Diaz bested her competitors in Group A, scoring 70 kg in the snatch which was more than enough to secure her the gold.
The pride of Zamboanga City then ended her run in Peru with a bronze medal finish in the clean and jerk (82 kg).
The IWF event will serve as the PHL team’s pre-main event warm-up for the upcoming Asian Championships, which will be held in Jiangshan, China.
