Courtesy: Asian Weightlifting Federation / Facebook
Albert Ian Delos Santos turned his grief into motivation and celebrated his 20th birthday as a triple gold medalist and an Asian and World junior record holder at the 2026 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Delos Santos, who lost his father Alvin earlier this year, swept all three gold medals in the junior men’s 70kg division and set four new Asian Junior and World Junior records, giving himself an unforgettable present on the eve of his birthday.
The proud son of Zamboanga City opened his campaign with a 141kg effort in snatch before producing a massive 180kg lift in clean and jerk that shattered the previous Asian Junior and World Junior records of 179kg.
His 321kg total completed his golden hat trick and also broke the previous Asian Junior record of 316kg as well as the World Junior mark of 318kg.
Iran’s Mehrab Davasari claimed two silver medals while India’s Yash Vinod Khandagale settled for bronze.
Following Delos Santos’ outstanding performance, the Philippine youth and junior weightlifting team now has 16 golds, six silvers, and nine bronzes.
Jhodie Peralta earlier won three golds and two silvers in the youth and junior women’s 53kg division while Alexsandra Ann Diaz and Jerick Icon Castro each won three gold medals in the women’s 49kg class and men’s 60kg youth category, respectively.
Meanwhile, Althea Bacaro won a pair of golds in the women’s 45kg youth competition. Angeline Colonia added a gold in the junior women’s 49kg division as did Prince Keil Delos Santos in the men’s 60kg group.
The Philippine team is hoping to bag additional medals from Rhianne Cabalida and Jea Mae Palagtiw in the women’s 69kg and 77kg youth divisions, respectively.
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