TOKYO (Reuters) — The Philippines’ Hidilyn Diaz became her country’s first ever Olympic gold medalist on Monday, winning the women’s 55 kg category for weightlifting at Tokyo 2020.
In her fourth Olympics, the 30-year-old lifted a combined weight of 224 kg, an Olympic record.
“I am 30 years old and I thought it would be like going down, my performance, but I was shocked I was able to do it,” said Diaz who won the silver medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Philippine presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a written statement that Diaz brought pride and glory to her country.
The Philippines first competed in the Olympics in 1924.
“Congratulations, Hidilyn. The entire Filipino nation is proud of you,” Roque said.
China’s Liao Qiuyun, who failed to match her own world record, took silver with 223 kg while Kazakhstan’s Zulfiya Chinshanlo won bronze with 213 kg.
Chinshanlo came close to completing a 123 kg lift in the clean and jerk, which would have been an Olympic record at that moment, but the judges reversed the decision. Soon after that Liao succeeded in lifting 126 kg.
The Chinese lifter’s record was then broken by Diaz who confidently lifted 127 kg.
Diaz, who said she would aim to participate at the next Games in Paris, held her hands to her face and burst into tears before embracing her coaches and clutching at the medallion around her neck.
Last year, Diaz had been stuck in Malaysia, where she stopped on her way to Peru for an Olympic qualifying event, for about five months under a government travel ban due to an outbreak of Covid-19. Diaz said she built a gym and trained with water bottles during that time.
On the podium, a still-tearful Diaz, who is also an airwoman sergeant of the Philippine Air Force, stood to attention saluting as she belted out her country’s national anthem at the top of her voice.
Bronze winner Chinshanlo was a gold medalist at the 2012 London Games but in 2016 she was stripped of a medal after failing doping tests in a re-analysis of samples.
Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines in action in Group A of the Women’s 55kg weightlifting event at the Tokyo Olympics on July 26, 2021.
