CAGAYAN de Oro City — Albert Ian delos Santos carried more than the weight of a barbell when he stepped onto the platform at the 2026 Asian Games. 

The 20-year-old Filipino weightlifter carried the memory of his late father, Alvin, who introduced him to the sport as a child, as he fought his way to a bronze medal in the men’s 70-kilogram division on Saturday, Sept. 26. 

Delos Santos lifted 324 kilograms in total—141kg in the snatch and 183kg in the clean and jerk—setting new Junior World and Junior Asian records in the total and clean and jerk.

The performance also gave the Philippines its 10th medal of the Games. 

Before competing at Fukiage Hall, Delos Santos covered his face with a towel as he gathered himself and asked his father to watch over him. 

“I spoke to him and said, ‘Pa, help me. Watch over me. I won’t waste everything you taught me when I was young. I will make the podium,’” Delos Santos recalled. 

He said a bright light above his platform during the competition reminded him of his father.

“I just thought, maybe that was Papa lighting the way for me,” he said. 

Hard fight for bronze 

North Korea’s Ri Won-ju won gold after a world-record 198kg clean and jerk, while Japan’s Masanori Miyamoto took silver with a 342kg total. 

Delos Santos secured bronze after holding off Uzbekistan’s Adkhamjon Ergashev in a tight finish. 

Ergashev failed his final 181kg clean and jerk attempt, while Delos Santos battled muscle cramps through his final lifts to preserve his podium finish. 

“Quite literally, a huge weight was off my shoulders,” Delos Santos said. “I knew looking at the entry list that this wasn’t going to be easy, but it was all worth it because I fought for it.” 

Looking ahead 

Delos Santos credited his mother, coaches, Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz and the Philippine Olympic Committee for helping him reach the podium. 

The POC had also named him one of the delegation’s flag bearers, a responsibility he said added pressure to his Asian Games campaign. 

“Being flag bearer added pressure, but I wanted to make their decision worth it,” he said. 

After the Games, Delos Santos plans to take a break, explore Nagoya and enjoy cold soba before returning to training for his next goal: qualifying for the Olympics. 

“Anything is possible as long as I give myself enough motivation to push,” he said.