Delos Santos Breaks Junior Records, Wins Asian Games Weightlifting Bronze
Albert Ian Delos Santos finished fourth after the snatch at the 2026 Asian Games. He passed three lifters in the clean and jerk to take bronze.
A Rough Snatch
The 20-year-old from Zamboanga City opened the men’s 70-kilogram weightlifting final at the Nagoya City Trade and Industry Center with a rough snatch round. He cleared 138 kilograms, then 141, then failed his attempt at 143. That left him trailing lifters from Japan, North Korea, and Uzbekistan heading into the clean and jerk.
The Clean and Jerk
Delos Santos opened the clean and jerk with 178 kilograms, then 181. On his third and final attempt, he lifted 183 kilograms, a new junior world and junior Asian record. It pushed his total to 324 kilograms and moved him past Uzbekistan’s Adkhamjon Ergashev, who had been sitting in third after a 176-kilogram clean and jerk of his own. The bronze medal was his first at an Asian Games, in his senior continental debut.
Gold went to North Korea’s Ri Wun Ju, who finished with a 349 kilogram total. Japan’s Masanori Miyamoto took silver at 342 kilograms.
A Light on the Platform
After the win, Delos Santos said the result felt unexpected, even with the pressure he places on himself before every competition. He said he tells himself to have fun and let go of the nerves, but admits he does the opposite. He also described noticing a beam of light landing only on his platform during the competition, and recalled a similar moment during a meet in Egypt. He connected both to thoughts of his late father.
The Medal Count
The bronze ended a 56-year gap in men’s Asian Games weightlifting medals for the Philippines. It also marked the country’s 10th medal of the 2026 Games, part of a tally that includes two golds, two silvers, and six bronzes. Two other Filipino weightlifters competed without reaching the podium. Rosegie Ramos placed fourth in the women’s 53-kilogram division, and Elreen Ando finished fifth in the women’s 61-kilogram class.
The record he set in Nagoya adds to one he already held. He broke his own junior world clean and jerk mark of 180 kilograms in August, at the Asian Junior Championships in Tashkent.
