Bum shoulder hampers Ceniza in Olympic weightlifting bid

MANILA, Philippines -- A shoulder injury led Filipino weightlifter John Ceniza to exit early from his Paris Olympics debut, the Olympian bared.

Ceniza was unable to complete a lift of 125 kilograms in snatch in the men’s 61kg. weightlifting Wednesday afternoon.

He used up all three attempts without a successful clearance, which led him to register a did-not-finish.

In an interview posted by One Sports, an emotional Ceniza revealed his injury.

“Tatak kasi sa utak na may injury ka. Mahirap i-compete na hindi ka pa naka-recover. Pero nag-compete ako dahil sa Pilipinas. Lumalaban pa rin ako kahit may injury ako, lumalaban pa rin ako para sa Philippines,” he said.

“Sobrang… iyong adrenaline ko, sobrang taas na. Pero mas nanguna pa iyong sakit ng injury ko talaga. Kahit anong focus mo, hindi mo talaga ma-control yung sakit,” he added.

Ceniza being unable to lift 125 kilograms was uncharacteristic, considering he cleared 300 kilograms in the IWF World Cup in Thailand.

There, he recorded 132 kilograms in snatch and 168 kilograms in clean and jerk.

“Hindi talaga siya [kaya] ng balikat, kahit nasa taas na, biglang lumiliko yung balikat ko so hindi ko ma-control,” he said.

With this, the 26-year-old Cebuano apologized for his performance.

“Thank you po sa lahat ng sumuporta sa akin ngayong laro na ito. Pasensya po sa lahat ng Pilipino na nabigo ako ngayong Olympics pero pagsikapan ko po para mag-qualify po sa next na Olympics.”

Two more weightlifters are set to compete in Paris -- Elreen Ando and Vanessa Sarno.