TOKYO – In the suspense-filled breathless end, with everything on the line and an entire nation on knife’s edge as the XXXII Olympiad weightlifting crown came down to a final heave, the Philippines’ Hidilyn Diaz proved she was worth every ounce of her weight in gold.
Diaz, silver medalist in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, went to a heavier weight on her third and last lift in the 55kg category after the Chinese world record holder Quiyun Liao lifted 126 kilograms on their third attempt in the clean & jerk to go up by one kilogram overall.
Going for 127 kgs, which would go down as an Olympic record and put her on top, Diaz loaded all her talent, experience and hard work to end the nation’s 97 years of fruitless campaign for a first-ever gold medal in the Games into one final lift and made history as fans of Team Philippines – from coaches, sports officials and even the media – erupted in joyous celebration late Monday at the Tokyo International Forum.
“Hindi ako makapaniwala, lalo na Olympic record pa (I can’t believe, especially it’s an Olympic record),” said Diaz in a trembling voice before she was whisked offto the mixed zone interview.
“Nasorpresa ako na nagawa ko yon. Mga kababayan ko dyan sa Pilipinas, at mga prayer warriors ko, maraming salamat. Sa lahat ng sumoporta, nakayanan natin sa kabila ng maraming pagsubok (I was surprised with my performance. Thank you to my countrymen and prayer warriors. To all my supporters, we did it despite the trials).”
She shot two fists into the air and yelled in triumph even before the ‘good lift’ was announced.
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