Albert delos Santos, the Asian junior champion, delved into weightlifting after the death of his father and coach Alvin, using the sport that brought them together as an escape to overcome grief.
On Saturday, the 20-year-old Filipino honored his father after he climbed to the podium at the Asian Games in Nagoya, winning a bronze medal in the 70-kilogram competition.
He thus continued a strong family legacy in weightlifting, as his parents were members of the national team, while his sister Desa represented the Philippines in Jakarta eight years ago.
“My sister participated in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, and being here now is like a complete circle,” he said at the Fukiage Hall in Nagoya. My father also lived in the nineties. This is a legacy he left to me.”
Alvin delos Santos, a medalist at the Southeast Asian Games in the 1990s, died of liver cancer in March, leaving his son Albert grief-stricken before the World Junior Championships in Egypt.
“Since my father passed away, I have dedicated myself to training,” Delos Santos said.
He suffered a setback due to an injury before the tournament held in Egypt, but he was eventually able to overcome it and win the gold medal.
On the podium, he pulled out a picture of his father from his jacket to honor his memory.
When asked what he would say to his father after winning the Asian Games bronze, Delos Santos said: “Thank you, I love you.”
Delos Santos, who came third behind North Korea's Ri Won Joo, who won the gold, and Japan's Masanori Miyamoto, said that lifting 183 kilograms in the clean was particularly satisfactory after his struggle to lift 170 kilograms during the preparation period.
He said: “I had very difficult days before the competition, but when I got here and started training, I felt good. “Anything is possible, as long as you get out of bed and get off the couch.”
In the evening of the weightlifting competition, Indonesian Rahmat Erwin Abdullah won gold in the 75-kg category, ahead of Thailand's Wiravun Wichuma, who won silver and runner-up at the Paris Olympics in the 73-kg category, and North Korea's Ri Chung Song, who won bronze.
Abdullah lifted 160 kilograms in the snatch and 206 kilograms in the clean and jerk, for a total of 366 kilograms, which are all world records in the recently created weight category.
Abdullah, who won a 73-kg bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, said: “I feel that the matter is much bigger than last time. I don't know, but it looks bigger. The pressure is greater, and I now have a son and wife at home who support me.”
The Brazilian club Chapecoense returned to the site of its 2016 plane crash in Colombia on Friday, ten years after the accident caused by the plane carrying the team running out of fuel, to attend a memorial service for the 71 victims.
Only six people out of 77 on board survived, in one of the worst tragedies in football history, which occurred on the night of November 28, 2016.
Chapecoense was then on his way to play the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final against Colombia's Atletico Nacional in Medellin, before his plane crashed on a mountain on the outskirts of the city.
Only three players survived out of 22 who were in the squad that were among the passengers.
The match was considered the biggest in the history of the South Brazilian club, and it was a favorite to win.
Chapecoense returned to Colombia this week to play a friendly match against Atletico Nacional on Saturday, and to attend a memorial service for the victims of the accident.
On Friday, the team will inaugurate a memorial engraved with the names of the victims.
They were joined on this trip by Helio Neto, a former defender who survived the incident.
Miguel Ramirez, a Colombian farmer who was the first to reach the disaster site 10 years ago, told Agence France-Presse that he still hears “the screams of people asking for help.”
Parts of the plane's structure are still visible near the crash site.
After the tragedy, Chapecoense was awarded the Copa Sudamericana title by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), at the request of its opponent in the final, Atletico Nacional.
The two teams met again five months later to compete for the 2017 Recopa Sudamericana title, which the Colombian team won.
Chinese runner Chen Yujie, 17 years old, confirmed that she knows "no limits" after she dominated the women's 100-meter final on Friday to win gold in the Asian Games.
Chen won in Nagoya with a time of 11.06 seconds, breaking the tournament record, and confirming the extent of her great talent. As for the Asian record for the race, it was set by her compatriot Li Shumi in 1997 when she was twenty years old, with a time of 10.79 seconds.
The young athlete, who will celebrate her 18th birthday in December, described this sweeping victory as “the best birthday present.”
But she doesn't intend to stop there. She said: “I am now the champion of the Asian Games, and I want to achieve more on the international scene, in the world championships and the Olympic Games.”
She added: “Now that I have become champion, my goal will be to defend my title in the future.” “I am now in the position of challenging others, instead of waiting for them to challenge me.”
Chen added, “I have no limits,” noting that she will also participate in the 200-meter race, within the Asian Games, starting Saturday.
On Saturday, the Chinese media praised what it hopes will be the beginning of a new era for Chinese speed, knowing that China has never won an Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter or 200-meter race. The official website of the Olympic Games described her as “the new star of speed.”
“I want to leave my mark on Chinese runners and Asian runners,” Chen said.
Despite her victory, the young woman admitted that she was nervous before the final. The teenager said: “My legs were shaking on the warm-up track,” after she led by 15 percent of a second over Singaporean Shanti Pereira, a two-time Olympic Games participant, who came in second, and by 27 percent of a second over Bahraini Eddyong Odiyong, who came in third.
She added: “I was very afraid that this would cause a false start.” “I thought a lot about it,” she said, noting that she had also beaten Pereira, 30, in the 200 meters during the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships.
