SEAG: Elreen Ando delivers a gold medal for PH’s weightlifting team

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Elreen Ann Ando capped off her 33rd Southeast Asian Games campaign with another gold medal, topping the women’s 63kg weightlifting category on Dec. 15, 2025, at the Chonburi Sports School in Chonburi, Thailand.

Despite moving up four kgs from her 59kg pet category, the pride of Cebu City showed no signs of slowing down and proved she is on a different level compared to neighboring SEA nations.

Ando wrapped up her SEA Games masterclass with a total lift of 229kg, besting Vietnam’s Thi Thuy Tien Nguyen and Thanaporn Seatia of Thailand.

The 27-year-old weightlifting star kicked off her gold medal bid with a performance for the ages in the snatch, tallying 102kg to immediately grab the early top spot.

After all participants completed the snatch, Ando showed she was clearly a cut above the rest as she held a comfortable 4kg lead over Seatia, who lifted 98kg.

Ando topped her performance in the snatch with an incredible run in the clean and jerk, completing 123kg in her second attempt to protect the No. 1 spot.

However, Ando’s golden moment came in her final attempt at 127kg — a mark where almost everyone at the Chonburi Sports School had struggled.

Oozing with confidence and the momentum from her stellar snatch, Ando saved her best for last, wowing the crowd after successfully lifting 127kg en route to the golden path in Thailand.

With the gold, Ando increased the Philippine weightlifting team’s medal tally to two, following Albert Ian Delos Santos’ silver finish in the men’s 71kg event.