MANILA – Five years after ending the Philippines’ two-decade wait for an Olympic medal in Rio de Janeiro, Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz quenched the country’s close-to-a-century thirst for Olympic glory last night in Tokyo, Japan.
The Zamboanga City native Diaz delivered the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal by topping the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s weightlifting in the 55-kilogram category at the Tokyo International Forum.
The four-time Olympian Diaz notched the historic gold with her 224-kilogram total – 97 kilogram in the Snatch and Olympic record 127 kilogram in Clean & Jerk– beating China’s Qiuyun Liao who settled for silver with 223 kilograms total lift.
The 30-year-old Diaz, a silver medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympics, successfully cleared her first and second attempts at Snatch with 94 and 97 kilograms, respectively, before getting a no-lift decision on her third try at 99 kilograms.
In the Clean & Jerk, Diaz successfully lifted 119 kilograms in her first attempt while also lifting 124 kilograms in the second attempt to momentarily take the lead from Liao at 221-220.
Liao retook the lead at 223-221 in her third and final Clean & Jerk lift after carrying 126 kilograms, but Diaz went for the gold and Olympic glory in her third lift with 127 kilograms.
“Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!” exclaimed a teary-eyed Diaz. “Sana maalala nila na may isang Hidilyn Diaz na lumalabas, isang Filipina galing sa Zamboanga City na napatunayan niya na kahit galing ka sa hirap, kaya mong manalo sa Olympics.”
Aside from her historic gold medal feat, Diaz will also become P30-million richer (as of press time) from the rewards she will receive – P10 million from the national government, P10 million from Smart’s Manuel Pangilinan and P10 million from San Miguel Corp.’s Ramon Ang.
Diaz said she is still contemplating whether to compete anew in the 2024 Olympics as her goal is only set for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games.
“Sa akin, alam kong kaya ko pa. Pero ngayon target ko hanggang Asian Games. Then after that, tingnan ko ulit. Reflect,” Diaz said.
“Kung kaya, tuloy-tuloy. Kung hindi, then baka ‘yun na. Ang haba-haba na ng serbisyo ko sa weightlfting, baka time na,” she added.
Malacañang, meanwhile, congratulated Diaz.
“The Palace congratulates Hidilyn Diaz for bringing pride and glory to the Philippines for winning the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement sent to Panay News. “The entire Filipino nation is proud of you. Laban, Pilipinas!”
Earlier in the day, Filipina skateboarder Margielyn Didal ended her Olympic stint with a seventh place finish in the women’s skateboarding, women’s street event finals.
The Cebuana Didal went for smooth and clean passes on the Runs section as she had 2.33 points in her first attempt and 2.22 points in the second try to place at seventh.
In the Tricks round, Didal missed on her first trick for 0.00 points before having a solid execution of a 50-50 on her second attempt to accumulate 2.97 points.
Didal then struggled on her third trick attempt, fumbled and tweaked her ankle in the fourth try and once again falling on her fifth and final try to settle for a 7.52 points total.
The 25-year-old Didal, a gold medal winner in the Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games, reached the finals round after placing seventh during the preliminary round on Monday morning./PN
