Rose Jean Ramos Settles for Bronze at IWF World Championships in Ningbo
Key Takeaways
- •Rose Jean Ramos won bronze in the snatch at the IWF World Championships in Ningbo, China, lifting 86 kilograms in the women's 49-kg class.
- •She finished behind Ri Song Gum of North Korea, who swept all three titles with a 211-kg total, and Zhao Jinhong of China, who claimed three silvers with a 207-kg total.
- •Ramos placed fifth in the overall standings with a 181-kg total, earning a medal in a single discipline despite finishing outside the top four in the combined result.
- •The podium finish awarded Ramos ranking points that position her to contend for a berth at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, following the path of fellow Zamboanga City native and Tokyo gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz.
- •Other Filipino lifters chasing Olympic qualification in Ningbo include Elreen Ando, Rosegie Ramos, Albert Ian Delos Santos, and Kristel Macrohon.
Philippine weightlifter Rose Jean Ramos took the first significant step toward earning a berth at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after claiming a bronze medal at the IWF World Championships held at the Ningbo Olympic Center in China on Tuesday.
Ramos, 20, a silver medalist at the Asian Championships and a World Youth champion, secured the snatch bronze with an 86-kilogram (kg) lift in the women's 49-kg class, finishing behind gold medalist Ri Song Gum of North Korea and silver medalist Zhao Jinhong of China, both of whom are world champions.
Ri, 29, a three-time winner of both the World Championships and the Asian Games, swept all three titles with a 211 kg total, 92 kg in the snatch and 119 kg in the clean and jerk. Zhao, 25, claimed all three silver medals with a 207 kg total, built on 91 kg in the snatch and 116 kg in the clean and jerk.
Ramos, whose campaign is being bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission, placed fifth in the total lift with 181 kg. The total — the sum of a lifter's best snatch and best clean and jerk — decides overall standings, a discipline split that explains how the 20-year-old left Ningbo with a medal despite finishing outside the top four in the combined result.
The result earned Ramos ranking points that position her to contend for a spot in Los Angeles, where she hopes to pursue gold the way her fellow Zamboanga City native Hidilyn Diaz did in Tokyo five years ago. Olympic berths in weightlifting are decided through a ranking-points system spread across the qualification period, making podium finishes at meets such as the World Championships a key early marker in the race for quota places. Diaz's triumph in the Japanese capital made her the first Filipino athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, and Ramos's podium finish in Ningbo hands the Philippine program an early foothold in the qualifying race for the next Games.
Attention now turns to the rest of the Philippine contingent in Ningbo. Elreen Ando, who will compete in the women's 61-kg division, is also chasing a place in Los Angeles, which would be her third Olympic appearance should she qualify.
Also bidding for Olympic berths are Ramos's sister Rosegie (53 kg), Albert Ian Delos Santos (men's 70 kg) and Kristel Macrohon (women's 69 kg), giving the Philippines further chances at Olympic qualification as the championships continue.
— Joey Villar, BusinessWorld
