A 19-year-old weightlifter from Zamboanga just gave the Philippines another reason to flex its strength after breaking a junior world record on his first try in a senior competition.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced that Albert Ian Delos Santos set a new junior world record in the 71-kilogram clean and jerk category at the 2025 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Forde, Norway. His third attempt, an impressive 185 kilograms, secured the record
“In the B Group of the men’s 71kg, Albert DELOS SANTOS (PHI) improved the first WR of Day 4 at the Worlds in Forde 🇳🇴by setting a new global mark of 185kg in the C&J!!!” the IWF wrote in an Instagram post.
Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, who’s also a mentor figure to Delos Santos, proudly congratulated him in the comments. “Thank you [Albert] for putting Philippines sa world junior record 🇵🇭 galing din ng mga coaches mo!” she said.
One of those coaches is none other than Hidilyn’s husband, Julius Naranjo, who celebrated the milestone in his own post.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and progress in training. Our preparation is always for the platform and you’ve worked hard and earned your spot as one of the best juniors in the world at just 19 years old,” he wrote.
He also gave a shoutout to Delos Santos’ parents, who were his first coaches, for building the foundation of his success.
