Albert Ian Delos Santos immediately ran off the platform, hugged his mother and got a picture from her. At the podium, he proudly showed off his medals on his right hand and then held firmly the same picture on his left.
The picture showed his late father, who died just two months ago due to liver cancer. And Delos Santos turned every bit of that grief into power and motivation to deliver two gold medals for the Team Philippines IWF World Junior Championships in Ismailia, Egypt on Monday, May 4.
The 19-year-old weightlifter reigned supreme in men’s 71-kilogram division with a total lift of 326kg — 17kg clear of closest pursuer in silver medalist Yash Vinod Khandagale of India, who bagged the silver.
He snatched 139kg and then hoisted a world junior record of 187kg in the clean and jerk.
Delos Santos powered through a nagging back pain which at some point before the contest actually left him struggling to even walk. But it felt like the weights were a little lighter that day — as if someone was holding it for him too — and he knew exactly who it was.
“I had only a week to train for this and I was trembling out there, but my dad was with me all the way. This was for him,” said Delos Santos.
“I deviated from my coach’s percentages in training and wanted to do every lift for my dad. It was my way of trying to get over the pain. I wore myself out, and two Saturdays ago I injured my back. I couldn’t even walk for a couple of days. I felt so bad, I was in a deep void,” he recalled.
He attempted at 190kg for the world record in total but failed. Still, the win enabled Delos Santos to become a three-time world junior champion, having won in 2023 at 61kg class and last year in the 67kg division.
