Lifters Rosegie Ramos, Jane Linete Hipolito vie in Youth Olympic elims

MANILA, Philippines — Rosegie Ramos and Jane Linete Hipolito eye top finish in their respective divisions as they seek berths in the Youth Olympic Games in the 19th Asian Youth Championships, which got under way in Urgench, Uzbekistan over the weekend.

Ramos, 13, and the 16-year-old Hipolito, are two of the scholars of Hidilyn Diaz and Alsons Power Group, Mindanao’s first and most experienced independent power producer, with the former competing in the 44kg category and the latter in the 53kg division.

Should they qualify, they will be back in the country to start intensive training for the YOG set in Argentina in October.

Both Ramos and Hipolito are from Zamboanga City and beneficiaries of the Alsons Power-Hidilyn Diaz scholarship program spearheaded by Diaz, silver medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympics, who encouraged the two young hopefuls and advised them to endure the hardships of training and focus on the competition.

“I’m happy to see that more girls are going into weightlifting and aiming to become Olympic medalists as well. I am hopeful that weightlifting will grow with more kids getting into the sport not just from Zamboanga City or Cebu but all over the Philippines who can become the next Hidilyn Diaz,” said Diaz.

Ramos has won several golds, a silver and bronze in Philippine youth competitions from 2014 to 2016 and also bagged a bronze during the 2016 weightlifting competitions in Tokyo, Japan.

Hipolito, on the other hand, copped two golds and silver during the Batang Pinoy competition in 2014 and 2015, and bagged a bronze medal from the 2016 weightlifting competition in Tokyo.