The Tokyo 2020 Olympics has been a different journey for Hidilyn Diaz.

After winning a historic silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Diaz became a prime bet for the country’s first gold medal in the quadrennial meet.

Aside from dealing with the pressure of the country’s hopes for her to become the first Filipino Olympic gold medalist, Diaz’s preparations for Tokyo 2020 was marred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, Diaz has unwavering belief that she can claim that gold medal.

“Kinakabahan ako na every time na naririnig ko na ‘gold na yan’ – naisip ko na kailangan ko embrace na ito ang destiny ko, kailangan ko i-claim para manalo ako,” said Diaz in Episode 1 of a documentary entitled “Let’s Go HD!” shown Thursday, July 1 on the Facebook page of Kick-Start Coffee Brewed Awakening.

(I get nervous whenever I hear “she’s a sure gold,” but I just think that I should embrace my destiny and claim that I will win.)

Diaz will be showing her “video diary” in a four-part series which will give a glimpse of the Olympian’s highs and lows, including her training amid the pandemic in Malaysia since February 2020.

Though Malaysia is on lockdown once again, the 30-year-old weightlifter showed how Team HD has been grinding on to make sure that she’s in top shape before flying to Tokyo.

“We’re doing our best to make our training more productive,” said Diaz, who opted to train abroad to be more focused.

Diaz qualified for her fourth straight Olympics after completing her sixth qualifying tournament in the 2021 Asian Weightlifting Championships.

She will be participating in the women’s 55kg event of the world’s biggest multisport showpiece that will be staged from July 23 to August 8.

Podcast

[PODCAST] Targeting Tokyo: Hidilyn Diaz

– Rappler.com

To discover the stories of our Filipino Olympic hopefuls, subscribe to Rappler Sports podcast Targeting Tokyo on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.