Injured Colonia breaks weightlifting records in Bacolod

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Nestor Colonia endured an ankle sprain to break four records – one Open and three junior marks – in the final day of competitions in the weightlifting event of the 2011 POC-PSC National Games in Bacolod City. The 19-year-old Colonia, nephew of former national weightlifter Gregorio Colonia, sprained his left ankle 10 days before the opening of the National Games. He set a new record in the 52-56 kilogram Open division when he lifted 116kgs in the snatch to surpass his own 110kg mark, which he established in the 2010 Asian Games where he placed sixth. The Pasolobong, Zamboanga City native already shattered the record in his first attempt with a 112kg lift. He set the new national mark of 116kg in his second attempt. He also became the second Filipino weightlifter to lift twice his weight in his division. But because of his sprained left ankle, Colonia failed to break the national clean and jerk record when he lifted 135kgs for a total of 251kgs. Colonia’s lifts, however, shattered the national junior marks of 100-122.5-222.5 kgs established by Hamsley Camili in the 2002 National Open in Manila. “Hindi okey ‘yung isang buhat ko kasi may injury ako. Nag-practice kasi ako na bumuhat ng 150 e medyo dumulas kaya na-sprain ‘yung kaliwang paa ko (I wasn’t able to perform well since I have an injury. I tried to lift 150kg in a practice that is when I sprained my ankle)," said Colonia. Colonia, who will be competing in the Southeast Asian Games in November, is hoping to lift his target weight of either 150 or 157kgs in the 26th SEA Games in Palembang, Indonesia if given the proper training and preparation. “Siguro makakaya ko pang itaas hanggang 157 basta may sapat lang na suporta (I think I can lift up to 157kgs as long as they would give the needed support)," said the 2009 Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships silver medalist. Jeffrey Garcia also broke another junior record in the 62kg division with a lift of 105kg to eclipse the 100kg mark and the secondary record (95kgs). Karl Louise Macrohon also entered his name in the National Games record books after a 77-kg lift (snatch) in the 50kg division to break the old mark of 70kgs. SEA Games ready? Aside from preparing the local athletes in the November SEA Games, the recently revived National Games is also an arena for Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) officials to assess if they are ready to face their counterparts in the region. PSC commissioner Jolly Gomez said there’s still a long way to go. “There’s a lot of training we need to do. This is just the first step of many that the athletes have to do." While the country’s best bets still seem to be in taekwondo and boxing, sports officials are hoping for surprise showings in fencing, karate-do, billiards and gymnastics. – JVP, GMA News