WHILE HER PREPARATION and journey for a possible return to the Olympic Games were greatly disrupted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, decorated Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz said she remains undeterred of seeing her mission through, doing everything she can to stay the course.

Currently in Malaysia with her team where they are training, Ms. Diaz said COVID-19 has thrown a curveball to what they want to accomplish but also shared that they are steadily finding their way back.

And that is something she is very grateful for.

“I’m grateful that we were able to survive the last three months. I’m grateful that I’m still here to continue my dream [of making it back to the Olympics],” said Ms. Diaz on Tiebreaker Vods’ “So She Did!” podcast episode last week.

Ms. Diaz is looking to make another trip to the Summer Games after winning a silver medal in the last edition of the quadrennial sporting meet in 2016 in Brazil.

She and her team were stuck in Selangor when the pandemic hit and subsequent lockdowns were raised by different countries, including the Philippines and Malaysia, making travel very difficult.

Ms. Diaz said early on it was tough for them as they had to make a lot of adjustments with their training regimen and routine, apart from finding an area where they are safe to continue.

But as the days went by, she shared they regained their footing and figured a way to continue with training.

They are hoping now that as the restrictions in Malaysia are eased, they get to further elevate their regimen and resume with the kind of pace they were having pre-COVID-19.

A three-time Olympian already, Ms. Diaz, 29, said the Olympics remains a strong motivation for her, never mind if her wait was stretched further with the Tokyo Games pushed back to 2021 because of COVID-19, which is why she is leaving no stone unturned in trying to get back to it.

As things stand, she is virtually qualified for the Tokyo Games, being in the top five in her category and needing to compete in at least one more qualifier to formalize her entry.

Ms. Diaz ranks No. 5 in the women’s 55kg category with 3,717.0982 points behind Jiang Huihua (4,667.8878), Liao Qiuyun (4,288.9622), Zhang Wangqiong (4,212.6639) and Li Yajun (4,099.0223) all of China.

However, only one lifter can represent a country per event in the Olympics, which would likely push Ms. Diaz to the No. 2 spot.

“Qualifying in the Olympics is very tough because you’re up against elite athletes but I’m confident of what I can do. Also we really need all the support we can get,” she said.

In the Tokyo Games, the Philippines is looking to win its first-ever gold medal.

Filipinos already qualified in the Olympics next year are pole-vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnast Carlos Yulo and boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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