Vanessa Sarno

Vanessa Sarno
Sarno in 2024
Personal information
NationalityFilipino
Born (2003-09-28) September 28, 2003
Home townTagbilaran, Bohol[1]
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Sport
CountryPhilippines
SportWeightlifting
Event
–71 kg
Coached byRichard Agosto
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • Snatch: 108 kg (2023, NR)
  • Clean & Jerk: 141 kg (2023, NR)
  • Total: 249 kg (2023, NR)
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Asian Championships 1 1 0
Southeast Asian Games 2 0 0
Total 3 1 0
Representing the  Philippines
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place2020 Tashkent–71 kg
Silver medal – second place2023 Jinju–71 kg
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2021 Vietnam–71 kg
Gold medal – first place2023 Cambodia–71 kg

Vanessa Palomar Sarno (born September 28, 2003) is a Filipino weightlifter who is a gold medalist in major international competitions, including the 2020 Asian Weightlifting Championships and the 2023 Southeast Asian Games. She has set new Philippine records and won three gold medals at the 2023 Asian Youth and Junior Championships.[2]

In 2025, Sarno was given a two-year ban set to expire in August 2027 for an anti-doping rule violation.

Early career and education

Sarno was born on September 28, 2003[3] and is the second of four children. Her parents work as fishers for their family's livelihood.[4] Sarno took up weightlifting after she joined her cousins train in a gymnasium in their home province of Bohol. She then developed a hobby of lifting barbells.[5] She was also influenced to take up the sport at 9 years old by her father, who also competed as a powerlifter in his youth. She also attended the Bohol Institute of Technology in Tagbilaran for her secondary education.[6]

At a young age, she joined the Philippine Sports Commission-organized 2014 Batang Pinoy which was hosted in Bacolod, where she won a gold medal in the -32 kg category.[5]

Career

Sarno went on to represent the Philippines in international competitions, joining weightlifting competitions in Indonesia in 2015, and in Thailand in 2018.[6] At the 2019 Asian Youth and Junior Championships in North Korea, she clinched two golds (overall and snatch) and one silver (clean and jerk) in the 71-kg division.[7] She also joined the 2020 IWF Online World Youth Championship hosted by Peru where she won three gold medals (snatch, clean and jerk, and overall) in the 71-kg division.[8]

At the 2020 Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarno clinched the gold medal in the -71 kg category, and also won two small medals; a gold for the clean and jerk and a silver for the snatch. After the tournament, she has been touted by local sports officials as a "successor" of Olympian Hidilyn Diaz and is seen as one of the Filipino contenders to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[9] Although the national weightlifting federation, the Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP), began lobbying for Sarno's entry to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo as a wild card.[4][10]

At the 2023 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in India, Sarno clinched three gold medals despite being ill a few days prior competing.[11]

On April 7, 2024, posted a new Philippine record in the snatch category in the 71 kg event of IWF World Cup in Phuket by lifting 110 kg to break the previous record of 108 kg she herself set in 2023. She would place fifth courtesy of her total lift of 245 kg. After the event, Sarno garnered sufficient IWF Olympic Qualification Ranking to secure a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics.[12]

In preparation for her participation, she trained in Metz although she was assigned a different coach than her longtime mentor Richard Agosto. She would attribute a "toxic environment" she experienced in the camp including the coaching change to her failure to register a lift in the snatch in the 2024 Summer Olympics.[13] Agosto himself would be with Sarno at the competition proper.[14][15]

In August 2025, Sarno was issued with a two-year ban set to expire in August 2027 for an anti-doping rule violation for three whereabouts failures (missed tests and/or filing failures) in a twelve-month period. According to SWP President Monico Puentevella, Sarno opted not to report her whereabouts due to an ongoing pregnancy and that she has accepted the sanction.[16]

Major results

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Summer Olympics
2024Paris, France71 kg100100100N/a———N/aDNF—
World Championships
2021Tashkent, Uzbekistan71 kg95101103512813113142315
2022Bogotá, Colombia71 kg909699161251281281022413
2023Riyadh, Saudi Arabia71 kg10010010420——————
IWF World Cup
2024Phuket, Thailand71 kg105108110513513513862455
Asian Games
2023Hangzhou, China76 kg100105108N/a130136136N/a2355
Asian Championships
2021Tashkent, Uzbekistan71 kg93971012nd place, silver medalist(s)1201241281st place, gold medalist(s)2291st place, gold medalist(s)
2023Jinju, South Korea71 kg1001051072nd place, silver medalist(s)1261321362nd place, silver medalist(s)2392nd place, silver medalist(s)
2024Tashkent, Uzbekistan71 kg100100104612512813252285

References

  1. ↑ "Vanessa Sarno finishes fifthin Asian Games weightlifting". Bohol Tribune. October 15, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  2. ↑ Dioquino, Delfin (August 3, 2023). "Vanessa Sarno sweeps weightlifting golds in Asian Youth and Junior championships". RAPPLER. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Athletes - Vanessa Sarno". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "NSA working on Sarno wild card in Tokyo Olympics". Philippine Daily Inquirer. November 26, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Yumol, David Tristan (May 8, 2021). "Vanessa Sarno relishes gains from 'first love'". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Boholana wins 2 golds, 1 silver in Asian weightlifting tilt". The Bohol Chronicle. October 31, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  7. ↑ Lozada, Bong (October 25, 2019). "PH's Vanessa Sarno plucks 2 golds, silver at Asian junior weightlifting tilt". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  8. ↑ Navarro, June (November 18, 2020). "Rising early, Sarno grabs three gold medals". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  9. ↑ Navarro, June (April 23, 2021). "Sarno, double regional champ, tagged as Diaz' heir apparent". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  10. ↑ Naredo, Camille (April 27, 2021). "PH weightlifting chief hopes for Olympic wild card for Vanessa Sarno". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Vanessa Sarno wins three golds in Asian youth weightlifting tilt despite illness". August 2, 2023.
  12. ↑ Micaller, Bea (April 7, 2024). "Olympics after record-breaking World Cup outing". GMA Integrated News. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  13. ↑ Micaller, Bea (August 10, 2024). "Vanessa Sarno laments 'toxic environment' that led to Paris heartbreak". GMA News. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  14. ↑ Villanueva, Ralph Edwin (August 10, 2024). "Sarno blames 'very toxic environment' for struggles in Olympic debut". The Philippine Star. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  15. ↑ Dioquino, Delfin (August 10, 2024). "'Toxic environment' amid coaching drama takes toll as Sarno struggles in Olympic debut". Rappler. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  16. ↑ Dioquino, Delfin (August 26, 2025). "Olympian Vanessa Sarno fails whereabouts reports, gets 2-year competition ban". Rappler. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
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