Teenager Vanessa Sarno breaks own record to defend SEA Games weightlifting title
The smiling Filipina also secured a Games record in the snatch on her way to claiming a second SEA Games title ahead of Thailand's Thipwara Chontavin and Indonesia's Restu Anggi.
Weightlifting
Teenage weightlifting sensation Vanessa Sarno added to her growing list of accolades after defending the women’s 71kg title at the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia on Monday (15 May).
Sarno lifted 105kg in the snatch, breaking the Games record of 104kg, a mark she'd previously set en route to gold at the last edition of the SEA Games at Hanoi 2021. Only one clean and jerk lift was required to secure the gold medal (120kg) with a total lift of 225kg.
Thailand's Thipwara Chontavin lifted a total of 208kg (95kg + 113kg) to take silver, while Indonesia's Restu Anggi (91kg) finished in bronze medal position on 206kg (91kg + 115kg), just one kilogram ahead of Vietnam's Thi My Le Lam (90kg + 115kg).
That's a second SEA Games gold for 19-year-old Sarno, cited as the heir apparent to history-making compatriot Hidilyn Diaz, Philippines first ever Olympic gold medallist.
A class apart from her opponents, Sarno told Olympics.com afterwards that she only focuses on herself: "I just need to beat me."
Before competing in the SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Sarno won silver in the Asian Championships in Jinju, Republic of Korea providing valuable points toward Olympic qualification for Paris 2024.
A bright future ahead, the only person to beat Sarno at the Asian Championships was People's Republic of China's Liao Guifang who needed two world records to do it. Sarno's total lift was 239kg (107kg snatch, 132kg clean and jerk) with Liao's world record snatch of 120kg, 148kg in clean and jerk, and world best total lift of 268kg.