Hidilyn Diaz won’t be going home with a medal, but she’s carrying a lot of learnings and more motivation from her first tournament since the pandemic put a halt to the world of sports.
“Natalo ako pero madami ako natutunan (I lost, but I really learned a lot),” said Diaz, who officially qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, in the 2021 Asian Weightlifting Championships on Sunday, April 18.
Diaz admitted she had forgotten the feeling of competing on the platform in her first snatch attempt of 90 kg as she was only preparing for her return to the quadrennial meet in Malaysia.
“Siyempre 14 months na rin na walang laro, sobrang kaba ko then noong 121kg, inisip ko na technique ko pero nagkaroon ako ng one second of doubt pagdating sa jerk, bigla di ko nagawa,” the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist shared.
“Kailangan ko ng more muscle memory, more confidence, and more ganitong laro para mas makilala ko sarili ko.”
(Of course, I haven’t competed in 14 months, that’s why I was so nervous. Then when it came to the 121kg, I was thinking about my technique, but I had one second of doubt in the jerk, which cost me my performance. I need more muscle memory, more confidence, and more competitions in order to learn more about myself.)
The Philippine weightlifting star relished her experience competing in the Asian tilt as she bared that her competition were the same athletes she would face in the Olympics.
According to the 30-year-old, she was really driven by her learnings that she already wanted to get back to training before her flight back to Malaysia on Friday, April 23.
“I have 3 months to prepare for the Olympics. Sabi ko sa coaches ko: ‘Magtrtraining na ako bukas!’ Sabi nila magpahinga muna ako. ‘Hindi! Magtrtraining na ako!’” quipped the 2018 Asian Games gold medalist.
(I have 3 months to prepare for the Olympics. I told my coaches: ‘I’m going to train tomorrow!’ They told me to rest. ‘No! I’m going to train!’)
Diaz currently ranks world No. 5 in the women’s 55kg category with 3,717.09 points, behind Chinese weightlifters Jiang Huihua (4,667.88), Liao Qiuyun (4,288.96), Zhang Wangqiong (4,212.66), and Li Yajun (4,099.02).
Even before the qualifiers, she had virtually qualified by virtue of taking the No. 2 spot since only one weightlifter per event can represent a country.
Diaz – who also competed in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics – is riding on a three-gold conquest in the 2020 Roma World Cup and a Southeast Asian Games golden performance in December 2019. – Rappler.com
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