The Philippine weightlifting team wasted no time making its presence felt at the 2026 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, opening the tournament with a wave of golds, silvers, and bronzes across multiple weight classes.
Fifteen-year-old Althea Bacaro got things started in the women’s 45kg youth category, overcoming a fourth-place snatch of 63kg to dominate the clean and jerk with an 83kg lift, good enough for gold in both that discipline and the overall total at 146kg. It’s the latest step forward for the Cebu City native, who had already medaled internationally with silver and bronze finishes at the IWF Youth World Championships in Cali, Colombia, this past May. Her coach, Christopher Bureros, called it the first time she’d claimed an overall championship across all her international competitions, crediting the win to the training and sacrifices behind it.
Jay-R Colonia of Zamboanga City added two silvers of his own in the men’s 55kg youth category, lifting 135kg in the clean and jerk for a 243kg total, and rounded out his day with a bronze in the snatch at 108kg.
The Weightlifting Hardware Kept Coming
The following day brought an even bigger haul. Alexsandra Ann Diaz, niece of Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, swept the women’s 49kg youth category, topping the snatch (77kg), clean and jerk (92kg), and total (169kg) for three golds. It extends a hot streak that began with three golds of her own in the women’s 48kg class at the IWF World Youth Championships in Cali. Chinese Taipei’s Pei-Quan Huang and Chun-Yu Lin took silver and bronze behind her, totaling 141kg and 140kg, respectively.
Jerick Icon Castro of Angono, Rizal, matched that performance in the men’s 60kg youth category, topping the snatch (116kg), clean and jerk (144kg), and total (260kg) for a clean sweep of gold medals. Compatriot Kirby Kent Alas-as added two bronzes in the same class, lifting 110kg in the snatch for a 243kg total.
The junior division delivered more weightlifting hardware. Angeline Colonia claimed gold in the snatch (80kg) and two silvers in the women’s 49kg junior category, totaling 173kg with a 93kg clean and jerk. Diaz also picked up two bronze medals in that same category. In the men’s 60kg junior class, Prince Keil Delos Santos won gold in the snatch (120kg) to go with two bronzes, totaling 264kg with a 144kg clean and jerk.
With the tournament running through August 14, the Philippine contingent has already built a substantial medal count—and there’s still plenty of weightlifting competition left for the team to add to it.
