John Fabuar Ceniza’s bid to see action in the Paris Olympics suffered a major blow as he is set to skip the upcoming AWF Senior Championships from 3 to 10 February in Uzbekistan due to a hip injury.
The 25-year-old Ceniza said he is still recovering from a left hip flexor injury, prompting him to withdraw from the prestigious continental event that stakes qualifying points in the Paris Olympics.
The Cebu-based lifter sustained the injury while competing in the IWF Grand Prix II in Doha last December. He finished fifth after posting a total lift of 289 kilograms in the men’s 61-kg event.
With his goal of earning qualifying points in the Asian tourney already shattered, Ceniza said he will just set his sights on the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand from 31 March to 11 April to catch the bus headed for the Summer Olympics set from 28 July to 11 August.
“I’m just recovering from my injury. I still need to work hard for the qualifiers in April and prepare to be an Olympian,” Ceniza said.
“It’s my dream to get there and once that happens, I want to aim for a medal.”
Prior to Ceniza, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz already clarified that she will be skipping the Uzbekistan event to focus on the IWF World Cup.
Ceniza currently sits at sixth place in the men’s 61-kg category of the IWF Paris Olympics Qualification Ranking. Should he remain in the top 10 after the qualifiers, he will get an outright berth to the biggest multi-sport event of the world.
The Southeast Asian Games silver medalist is being eyed by the Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas to join the Olympics together with Diaz, Vanessa Sarno and Rosegie Ramos.
“As a national sports association, we are hoping to get at least four athletes and I believe that in every Olympics, the more, the merrier,” SWP president Monico Puentevella said.
