By Sean Rafio and Leobert Julian dela Peña
It was 2016 when the Philippines first tasted a podium finish in weightlifting after a 20-year drought.
A woman named Hidilyn Diaz placed herself in the Philippine weightlifting icons’ list after clinching the silver medal during the 2016 Olympics.
It was still not mission accomplished but five years after, she finally clinched the elusive Olympic gold.
Diaz became the country’s first gold medalist after winning the women’s 55 kg category for weightlifting in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
The 30-year-old Zamboanga native lifted a combined weight of 224 kg, an Olympic record.
The four-time Olympian weightlifter Diaz cleared 97kg in the snatch and an Olympic record of 127kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 224kg.
She is also the second athlete to win more than one Olympic medal for the Philippines.
With her historic performance in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Diaz is now P30 million richer.
On top of the cash, Diaz will also be rewarded a house and lot gift from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
Earlier, Business tycoons Ramon Ang and Manny Pangilinan confirmed they will be giving 10 million pesos each for the gold medalists in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. This is on top of the P10 million and other rewards shouldered by the PSC.
China’s Liao Qiuyun took silver with 223 kg and Kazakhstan’s Zulfiya Chinshanlo won bronze with 213 kg.
The first Filipino to ever win an Olympic gold medal told her country to “never give up” amid challenges that come their way.
Diaz lifted the nation’s spirit after she triumphed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics weightlifting competition on Monday, July 26, 2021
In a chance interview with Gretchen Ho shortly after her win, the four-time Olympian weightlifter said she was stuck in Malaysia since February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Diaz has not seen her family since December 2019.
