Elreen Ando books spot in Tokyo Olympics

Elreen Ando joins Hidilyn Diaz as the Philippines' weightlifting bets in Tokyo. Screen capture from Facebook

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Elreen Ando, one of the bright spots for the Philippines in the Asian Weightlifting Championships last April, is officially entering the Tokyo Olympics.

In the final absolute ranking released by the International Weightlifting Federation on Saturday, Ando will be playing in the women's under-64-kilogram category through the continental quota.

The quota is imposed to the weightlifters outside the Top 8 in the world rankings.

Ando, ranked 12th in the world, is the best Asian who made the continental quota cut, in effect becoming the 11th Filipino to qualify and join Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz as the Philippines' weightlifting representatives.

She will join Romania's Loredana-Elena Toma, Mercedes Perez-Tigrero of Colombia, Canada's Maude Charron, Anjie Palacios-Dajomes of Ecuador, Great Britain's Sarah Davies, Italy's Giorgia Bordignon, Chen Wen-Huei of Chinese Taipei, and Cuba's Marina Rodriguez-Mitjan, who all qualified outright through the world rankings.

The other continental quota qualifiers are Turkey's Nuray Levent, Australia'a Kiana Elliott, Tunisia's Chaima Rahmouni, and Nicaragua's Sema Ludrick-Rivas.

According to the IWF, the final competitor will depend on how Japan uses its three host quota spots.

Should Japan decide not to send a representative in Ando's division, the IWF will hand out a tripartite commission invitation to another weightlifter.

Ando won two silvers and one bronze during the Asian championships.

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