Puentevella confident weightlifting won't be scrapped from 2024 Paris Olympics

Samahang Weightlifting sa Pilipinas (SWP) president Monico Puentevella expressed confidence in the inclusion of weightlifting in the Paris 2024 Olympics following reports that the sport could be in danger of being dropped.

In a report last July, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it had "repeatedly warned weightlifting it has to reform or risk missing out on the Paris Olympics and subsequent Olympics."

This development came after alleged doping cases were uncovered in the sport which forced the IOC to ban weightlifters from Romania, Thailand, and Malaysia from seeing action in the Tokyo Olympics.

But Puentevella said the federation is positive that weightlifting will be featured come the next edition of the Games. After all, it's one of the sporting events that steered the Philippines' historic medal haul in Tokyo.

Hidilyn Diaz ruled the women's 55-kg weightlifting event, giving the Philippines its first taste of an Olympics gold medal.

"That issue has been there for quite some time now and it's because of the violation in doping," Puentevella told GMA News Online in an interview.

"But lately, about three months ago, I went to Doha, Qatar for a congress and we immediately approved on the first agenda what the IOC was requesting, which was the reform."

"And I'm not worried because we complied with the changes."

Weightlifting isn't the only sport in danger of being dropped from the Games as boxing, which delivered three of the country's four medals in Tokyo, could also be excluded from Paris.

According to IOC president Thomas Bach, the international body will make the decision on the two sports 'as soon as possible' with less than three years left before the next Summer Games gets going.

"We are quite concerned because in these two federations there are problems of good governance and that is why we are currently monitoring them very closely," Bach told French sports daily L'Equipe.

"We will make a decision as soon as possible in the interest of the athletes."

For SWP's part, Puentevella said the athletes are continuously training as four athletes in Elreen Ando, Vanessa Sarno, Kristel Macrohon, and Mary Grace Diaz will see action in the 2021 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in December.

—JMB, GMA News