By Jerome S. Galunan, Jr.

Following the exclusion of women’s weightlifting in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) by the Malaysia SEA Games Organizing Committee (MASOC), Philippine Weightlifting Association (PWA) President Monico Puentevella confirmed Nestor Colonia is the country’s lone hope for a weightlifting medal.
“One athlete, one gold,” he said.
Puentevella pointed out an appeal was made to Malaysian officials. However, “They claimed it is too late,” he said.
“With this concept of hosts choosing only the games they prefer, I believe the SEA Games will deteriorate in the future,” the former Bacolod City mayor added.
According to reports, other sports that were axed include women’s boxing, bodybuilding, canoeing, fencing, women’s soccer, wrestling, and judo. A series of athletics events were also nixed including the marathon, 10,000M, 3,000M steeplechase, men’s decathlon, and women’s heptathlon./WDJ