PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Elreen Ando has had enough of runner-up finishes in the Southeast Asian Games.

The Cebuana weightlifter scored her maiden SEA Games gold medal in record-breaking fashion as she reigned in the women’s 59kg at the National Olympic Stadium here on Sunday, May 14.

Flashing a more dangerous form at a lighter weight division, Ando set new SEA Games marks in snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift to bag the Philippines’ first weightlifting gold in this edition.

Ando cleared 98kg in snatch and 118kg in clean and jerk for a total lift of 216kg to erase the previous records of Vietnam’s Hoang Thi Duyen, who failed in her three-peat bid and instead placed third.

Duyen – who held the previous marks of 96kg in snatch, 115kg in clean and jerk, and 210 in total lift – finished with just 205kg total built on 93kg snatch and a 112kg in clean and jerk for the bronze.

Thailand’s Suratwadee Yodsarn bagged silver with a 206kg total (91kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk).

Ando settled for silvers in the 2019 and 2021 as she competed in the heavier women’s 64kg division.

But the 24-year-old moved down to 59kg – the same class as Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz – in a bid to qualify for the Paris Games after organizers scrapped their previous weight categories.

The move paid dividends as Ando broke through for the Philippines following silver finishes from Angeline Colonia (women’s 45kg), Lovely Inan (women’s 49kg) John Ceniza (men’s 61kg), and Rosalinda Faustino (women’s 55kg).

Ando debuted in the Olympics in 2021 in Tokyo where she finished seventh in the women’s 64 kg event. – Rappler.com