NESTOR Colonia boosted his bid of gaining a slot in the Rio De Janeiro Olympics after bagging a bronze medal in the clean-and-jerk 56 kg. division of the 2015 World Weighlifting Championship in Houston, Texas.
Colonia lifted 158 kg in the clean and jerk, good enough to place third in the category behind London Olympics gold medalist Om Yun-Chol of North Korea and Wu Jingbiao of China.
The 23-year-old Zamboanga native fell short of a second medal after finishing fourth in the total with 282 kg behind Thach Kim Tuan of Vietnam with 287 kg.
Om won the gold in the clean and jerk in world record fashion with 171 kg, before topping the total with 302 kg. for a second gold.
Wu also took the gold in the snatch at 139 kg to break the current world record.
Hidilyn Diaz is the other Philippine entry in the event as she competes in the 53 kg division.
The World Weightlifting Championship is one of the qualifying tournaments for next year’s Summer Games where points are earned for the ranking system to determine the 108 athletes to make it to Rio De Janeiro.
An athlete can qualify in the Olympics via team qualification where a country can gain three to six berths based on team rankings in the 2014 and 2015 World Championship, and continental qualification events or via individual qualification by being one of eight in the top 15 in each weight category from countries which have not yet gained Olympic berths.
Source: Reuben Terrado of Spin.ph
