Bemedalled Diaz happy to see weightlifting take further flight locally

WHILE far from retiring, bemedalled Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz said that she is confident that Philippine weightlifting will continue to take flight long after she is gone with newer-generation athletes picking it up and trying to excel in it.
Fresh from her gold medal conquest at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia, Ms. Diaz met a group of local media in a roundtable on Sept. 6 at the College of St. Benilde, where she is taking up Business Management, and shared that she welcomes new athletes in weightlifting, seeing it as a boon to the sport.
“Before when I played in the Asian Games there were only one or two of us competing but this time around we were seven who competed. That means in a way weightlifting is steadily building up,” said Ms. Diaz, 27.
“And I’m very happy about that and to see these new athletes competing in the Asian Games should benefit them as they are exposed to the kind of level of competition in there. To be honest, the Asian Games is very different, even bigger than the Olympics, in my opinion, because the competition is really tough, and hopefully it would help them and motivate them more to make their dreams come true,” added Ms. Diaz, who is also a silver medallist in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the 18th Asian Games, apart from Ms. Diaz, other Filipino weightlifters who competed were Nestor Colonia, Jeffrey Garcia, Elien Rose Perez, Elreen Ann Ando, Ma. Dessa Delos Santos, and Kristel Macrohon.
Ms. Delos Santos, who studies in St. Benilde as well, also joined Ms. Diaz for the media roundtable along with CSB alumna Agatha Wong, who won a bronze medal in wushu at the Games.
Ms. Diaz shared that she hopes that local weightlifters continue to improve their game and stay disciplined even as he enjoined all stakeholders of the sport, particularly the government, to rally behind it.
“They just have to continue training and building that winning mindset that it can be done. Of course, discipline should be there and faith in God,” she said.
“As for the support for weightlifting it would go a long way. They should really listen to what the athletes need in training and preparation to get the desired result,” Ms. Diaz added.
Ms. Diaz said she is now gearing up for a competition in November to earn points to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 as well as the Southeast Asian Games in 2019. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo