HANOI—Vanessa Sarno goes back home not only with a weightlifting gold medal from the Vietnam 31st Southeast Asian Games hanging around her neck but with a heart and mind packed with the motivation to shoot for an Olympic gold medal.
And the reason for all the motivation and inspiration comes from, who else, her family.
“I’m inspired and motivated to work hard to help my mother, brothers and sisters because my father has abandoned us,” said Sarno, whose 48-year-old mother Emelita is making both ends meet for the family in their native Barangay Poblacion in Dauis, Bohol, one of the Philippines’ weightlifting hotbeds.
“My mom didn’t give up on us despite of what happened. That’s why I promised her that I will take care of her and my siblings,” Sarno, 18 and the Asian champion in her category, said. “I told my mother not to work anymore because I need her on my side.”
Sarno is the second of four siblings—Van Leslie, Vincent and younger sister Veronica.
The family problem almost caused Sarno to drop weightlifting, but her coach, Nick Jaluag, and fellow weightlifter, Fernando Agad Jr., were there to push her pursue her athletic career.
“There was a time when I wanted to give up because of what happened [his dad abandoning them], but I didn’t because of the people who inspired me,” she said.
While she was nine, Sarno found herself walking into a makeshift gym along the shores of Tagbilaran City and nine years, she’s now being hailed as an heir apparent to her idol, Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz.
“My dream is to qualify for the Olympics in Paris [2024] and win the gold there,” she said, adding Diaz has always been her idol.
Sarno handily beat Thailand’s Siriyakorn Khaipandung for the women’s 71 kgs class at the SEA Games. She lifted 135 kgs in the clean and jerk to the Thai’s 120 kgs, 104 kgs in snatch as againt her foe’s 103 and at the end of the duel, was six kgs better at 239 kgs for the gold medal. Indonesia’s Restu Anggi got the bronze with a 212-kg total. lift.
Sarno has this year’s world championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games that were postponed for next year as her next mission.
Sarno will be flying back home to Manila with Diaz and the rest of the national weightlifting team at dawn Monday.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes