Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifier Hidilyn Diaz’s ecstasy seemed short-lived as she remembered that her family was hit with a positive COVID-19 case right before her event.

In an Instagram Live with Noel Ferrer, Diaz broke down in tears and admitted she found out her sister-in-law tested positive for COVID-19 right before she kicked off her 2021 Asian Weightlifting Championships campaign on Sunday, April 18.

“‘Yung sister-in-law ko positive siya noong nag-CS (caesarean operation) noong isang araw,” shared Diaz, when asked how her family was doing in Zamboanga.

“Before ng laro ko nangyari iyon. Natakot ako kung mag-positive kapatid ko, meaning nasa community namin ‘yung virus. Hindi ko pa alam ngayon [kung positive magulang ko], pero kakausapin ko pa sila.”

(My sister-in-law tested positive for COVID-19 when she needed to get a test before her CS operation. This happened before my event. I’m scared that if my brother is positive, then that means the virus is in our community. I still don’t know if my parents are positive, I still have to talk to them.)

Diaz’s family resides in the province of Zamboanga, and the Philippine weightlifting star aims to continue to spread awareness on the health and safety protocols that should be followed.

“Alam mo, ‘yung problema namin sa probinsya, ‘di sila naniniwala sa COVID-19, pinagtatawanan lang nila. Sabi ko: ‘COVID is real. Kung hindi totoo ang COVID, bakit ang daming namamatay, bakit ang dami nag-lockdown na?'”

(The problem in the province is that they don’t believe in COVID-19. They just laugh it off. I tell them: ‘COVID is real. If COVID isn’t real, then why are people dying and why are there many lockdowns?’)

Diaz officially sealed her Tokyo Olympics berth and her fourth straight appearance in the quadrennial meet as she participated in her final qualifier.

With the feat, the weightlifting star became the seventh Filipino to qualify in the Tokyo Games after EJ Obiena (pole vault), Carlos Yulo (gymnastics), and Eumir Marcial, Irish Magno, Carlo Paalam, and Nesthy Petecio (boxing).

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Hidilyn Diaz officially enters Tokyo 2020 Olympics

The 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist recorded 94kg in the snatch and 118kg in the clean and jerk for a total lift of 212 kg in the women’s 55kg event in the qualifiers in Uzbekistan.

Diaz finished 4th in the event, and currently ranks No. 5 in the women’s 55kg category with 3,717.0982 points behind Chinese weightlifters Jiang Huihua (4,667.8878), Liao Qiuyun (4,288.9622), Zhang Wangqiong (4,212.6639), and Li Yajun (4,099.0223).

Before returning to the platform, the 30-year-old weightlifter decided to train in Malaysia for 14 months as she got stranded during the height of the pandemic instead of competing for an Olympic qualifier in Cali, Colombia.

Diaz, also a 2018 Asian Games gold medalist, copped a trio of golds in the 2020 Roma World Cup and delighted the home crowd with a  Southeast Asian Games golden performance in December 2019. – Rappler.com