GO hard or go home.

That was the mentality of Elreen Ando when she battled the world's best lifters in the women's 59-kg division at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Despite not taking home a medal from Paris, the 25-year-old Ando set personal marks in the clean and jerk and total lift.

"We may not clear the first and second attempts, but at least we fought for the last attempt. My performance is not really that bad. I am proud of myself since I improved and I was able to match my personal record," Ando said in an interview with One Sports.

The Cebuana lifter cleared 130 kgs in the clean and jerk in her third and final attempt and registered a total of 230 kgs after clearing 100kgs in the snatch.

Her previous best total was 228 kgs.

"I cried since I cleared the 130 kgs, and of course, despite the results of my performance I am continuously improving. I am so proud of myself that I was able to lift it, and I kept telling myself that I have to do this for our country," said Ando, who placed sixth among the 12 competitors in the division.

The gold medal in Paris went to Lou Shifang of China who set a new Olympic record of 241 kgs. Maude Charron of Canada bagged the silver at 236 kgs and Kuo Hsing-chun of Taiwan copped the bronze at 235 kgs.

Ando cleared 100 kgs in snatch on her second attempt but failed to lift 102 kgs in her last attempt.

"That's how I performed. We can't really tell what will happen in the competition, just like the plates," she said.

"It is sad since my coach and I did not reach our goal and target, but at least the Lord guided us to not get a zero mark. We fought for our country."

Ando placed seventh in the 64-kg division at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but moved to a lighter weight class this time. She now looks forward to get another chance in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

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