Kristel Macrohon proved her worth by ruling the women’s 71kg division Wednesday, giving the Philippines its second gold medal at the end of the weightlifting competitions of the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Ninoy.
Macrohon, 23, inspired by Olympian Hidilyn Diaz’s golden triumph last Monday, had a total lift of 216kg (93kg in the snatch and 123kg in the clean and jerk) to relegate favorite Thi Van Nguyen of Vietnam to the silver. Nguyen had a total lift of 214kg (92kg in the snatch and 122kg in the clean and jerk).
Indonesian Tsabitha Ramadan settled for the bronze medal with a total lift of 203kg.
Nguyen failed in her last attempt at 125kg in the clean and jerk, enabling Macrohon, like Diaz a native of Zamboanga City, to escape with the golden win.
“I’m so overwhelmed. I didn’t expect this because the Vietnamese lifter is really the No. 1 in the division. I thought I could only win a silver. But Hidilyn inspired me to go for the gold,” said Macrohon.
With just one event left (men’s 73kg) in the four-day competition, Vietnam has clinched the overall title in the discipline with 4 gold medals on top of four silver and one bronze medals, followed by Indonesia (3-1-5) and the Philippines (2-3-2).
Myanmar had a lone silver medal in the 10-event competition while Malaysia, the 2017 host, ended its campaign with a solitary bronze to show, a far cry from its 1-1-1 performance two years ago.
“I’m very happy with the success of the weightlifting competition. We really worked hard for this. I think this is one of the most successful SEA Games as far as weightlifting is concerned,” said Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella.
Macrohon sealed the victory after she lifted 123 in clean and jerk to vault to the top of the ranks.
Macrohon faced some anxious moments after her second attempt at clean and jerk (120 kg) was disallowed by two of three judges. But the jury review overruled the decision allowing her to go on to make the third lift to rule her event.
Vietnam’s Thi Van Nguyen tried to overhaul her advantage with a final attempt of 125 kg in clean and jerk. She failed and settled for a total 214 to take silver.
