SEA Games: Vanessa Sarno dominates women’s 71-kg weightlifting for another gold

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Are we seeing the next Hidilyn Diaz?

Carrying her title as the defending Asian champion, the young and upcoming Vanessa Sarno didn’t disappoint and took the gold medal in the women’s 71-kg weightlifting category during the 2022 Southeast Asian Games.

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 239 kg.

It was a big disparity to Siriyakorn Khaipandung of Thailand who won the silver medal after scoring a total of 212 kg.

Aside from bagging the gold medal, Sarno also made history and reset both the SEA Games and the Philippine records in both the snatch and the clean and jerk.

Sarno lifted 104 kg in the snatch and 135 kg in the clean and jerk category, the best tallied score so far in the history of the SEA Games.

“I am so happy that I am one of the gold medalists here in the Southeast Asian Games. I never thought I would win the gold because this is my first time here,” said Sarno.

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.

“I was confident in every lift. I never thought of my opponents, I just focused on my lift, nothing else. I cried and prayed every night to win the SEA Games title. I encountered a lot of hardships in my personal life before this competition,” added Sarno.