Camille Naredo

Albert Ian delos Santos of the Philippines celebrates during the men's 71kg class of weightlifting at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, December 14, 2025 at the Chonburi Sports School in Chonburi, Thailand. POC Media

Albert Ian delos Santos of the Philippines celebrates during the men's 71kg class of weightlifting at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, December 14, 2025 at the Chonburi Sports School in Chonburi, Thailand.

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2025 Southeast Asian Games

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<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1766070130493IMG_2572.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Albert Ian delos Santos of the Philippines celebrates during the men&#x27;s 71kg class of weightlifting at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, December 14, 2025 at the Chonburi Sports School in Chonburi, Thailand. POC Media" width="960"/>Albert Ian delos Santos of the Philippines celebrates during the men&#x27;s 71kg class of weightlifting at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, December 14, 2025 at the Chonburi Sports School in Chonburi, Thailand. POC MediaThe Philippine weightlifting team fell short of expectations in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, where they won just one gold medal.</div>They believe that the future is bright for them, however, particularly for 19-year-old Albert Delos Santos, who nabbed a silver in the men&#x27;s 71kg division. Delos Santos lifted 186 in the clean and jerk and a total of 324 to set a new juniors&#x27; record in his SEA Games debut. He erased the old mark by one kilo that he himself set last October in the World Championships in Forde, Norway. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2025/12/15/seag-delos-santos-wins-weightlifting-silver-sets-new-junior-world-record-1228">READ: Delos Santos wins weightlifting silver, sets new junior world record</a></div>No less than Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz praised Delos Santos for his feat.&quot;&#x27;Yan ang future (ng Philippine weightlifting),&quot; said Diaz. Incidentally, Diaz and her husband, Julius Naranjo, are training Delos Santos in collaboration with his parents Diwa and Alvin. Olympian Elreen Ando delivered the Philippines&#x27; lone weightlifting gold in the 2025 SEA Games, while a former gold medalist in Kristel Macrohon scored a bronze.Delos Santos said it was an honor to be called as such by Diaz since she is one of his influences on why he took up weightlifting in the first place. &quot;No pressure, I guess,&quot; said Delos Santos, when told that Diaz described him as the future of Philippine weightlifting. &quot;It&#x27;s really a lot coming from her. Ever since I was a kid, I&#x27;ve looked up to her.&quot;&quot;To have an opportunity to train with her and her husband, with a collaboration with my mom and dad, it&#x27;s been a blessing and I&#x27;m very thankful for everything,&quot; said Delos Santos. Delos Santos did the lifts in the SEA Games after getting sick on his way to Thailand. &quot;This started back sa eroplano. I was already dizzy. I did throw up on the plane. Got here, got diarrhea. Training was okay but I had to manifest and adapt to everything,&quot; said Delos Santos. He got better in the days leading up to the actual competition and was able to achieve his goals for the SEA Games. &quot;Midway through clean and jerk, I was already cramping. But at least, I was 6-for-6. To be honest, I&#x27;m so proud at everything that I&#x27;ve achieved. A PR (personal record), 6-for-6, silver medal, it&#x27;s all a win. It&#x27;s all a win despite all the setbacks.&quot; &quot;Not bad,&quot; said the second-year college student at Universidad de Zamboanga taking up Business Administration of his SEA Games performance. Delos Santos will be aiming to continue his strong performance next year with another busy slate. &quot;I know it&#x27;s a lot. Junior World Championships again, Asian Games, and Worlds. That&#x27;s what I&#x27;m looking forward to,&quot; said Delos Santos.

The Philippine weightlifting team fell short of expectations in the #2025SEAGames, where they won just one gold medal.

The Philippine weightlifting team fell short of expectations in the #2025SEAGames, where they won just one gold medal.

Record-setting Delos Santos seen as future of PH weightlifting

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Record-setting Delos Santos seen as future of PH weightlifting

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Published Dec 19, 2025 07:00 AM PHT

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Hidilyn Diaz\

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