After her final lift, Hidilyn Diaz let out a triumphant yell with both hands clenched in fists as she knew what she had just done was more than achieving personal glory. Diaz not only lifted 127kg clean and jerk, she also gave the Philippines its first Olympic gold medal in 97 years since the country first joined in 1924.
Diaz’s win came down to the final lift as she needed to beat her opponent, China’s Liao Quiuyun, who was the favorite and lifted 126kg. Diaz’s 127kg answer in the clean and jerk combined with her 97kg snatch for a combined weight of 224kg enough to win the women’s 55kg weightlifting event as well as set a new Olympic record.
After the emotions in the Diaz camp had somewhat calmed down enough and it was time for the presentation of medals, former Filipino athlete and International Olympic Committee Board Member Mikee Cojuanco - Jaworski gave the medal to Diaz. Afterwards, it was a historic moment for the Philippines as Lupang Hinirang was played for the first time in the Olympic Games with Hidilyn Diaz, a Philippine Air Force Sergeant saluting the flag.
A native of Zamboanga and a product of very humble beginnings, Diaz’s achievement of winning the gold medal was a long time coming and well deserved. She started weightlifting after her cousin introduced her to the sport and she made her first Olympics in the 2008 Beijing Games as a wild card entry.
She placed second to the last in a field of 12 in the 2008 edition of the games and attained a Did Not Finish result after failing in her third attempt at the 118kg clean and jerk.
The real breakthrough for Diaz came in the 2016 Rio Games where she became the first Filipino medalist at the time since Onyok Velasco won silver in the 1996 Atlanta Games. Back then she promised to make it her goal to attain gold in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Since Rio 2016, Diaz gained numerous medals including becoming the first Filipino weightlifter of any gender to win gold in the Asian Games when she achieved it during the 2018 iteration of the games. She also won gold in the 55kg event in the 2020 Roma World Cup in Weightlifting to secure her spot in Tokyo 2020.
Since then however with the Covid 19 pandemic, Diaz’s training was altered to say the least with Tokyo 2020 postponed by a year and with her stranded in Malaysia for some time due to travel restrictions. Those being said, Diaz entered Tokyo 2020 as a strong contender in her field and one of the biggest hopes of the Philippines.
Suffice to say she delivered and how.
Her win gave the Philippines its first gold medal and with Filipino sports looking stronger than ever this Olympics with notable challengers in our boxers, this may not be our last gold medal this games.