Olympian Hidilyn Diaz will continue training in a bid to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The three-time Olympian said this following the cancellation of a qualification event in Colombia yesterday.
The 29-year-old Diaz, who is in the thick of training in Kuala Lumpur, explained that she and her support group called off their trip to Cali, Colombia, where they were to see action in the 2020 Ibero-America Open and Open Senior Weightlifting Championships.
Because of the threats posed by the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, Colombia has issued a travel ban to foreigners traveling to the country, thereby delaying Diaz’s bid to seek more points needed to qualify for the Olympics.
Because of the global spread of the Coronavirus and travel restrictions implemented by many countries around the world, the Columbian Weightlifting Federation announced yesterday that it has decided to postpone the South American, Ibero-American & OPEN Senior Championships, that was due to be held from March 18 to 23 in Cali, Colombia.
“There are things we can’t control and we can’t do anything, the effects of COVID-19 is something unimaginable. Most of my Olympic Qualification events are postponed or cancelled, due to the travel ban, city lockdown and country lockdown,” said Diaz in a message.
The IWF said in its website that a new date of the competition will be announced as soon as possible.
“Panic, fears and frustration are controlling us right now. I was supposed to have my flight today going to Colombia to compete at the Ibero-America Open Championships 2020 for my final Olympic Qualifying competition but we didn’t push through because of the travel ban in Colombia,” said Diaz.
Diaz, who was born and raised on Zamboanga City, said this will not stop her from seeking out her goal.
“As an athlete we don’t stop when we fail once, even twice. The most important thing is we do our best and at the end of the day and we won’t regret anything,” said the 4’11” Diaz, who is seeking her fourth stint in the Olympics.
Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella said: “Hidilyn and her group will continue training in Malaysia,” while their await word from the IWF.
“I will remain focused and determined to improve every single day together with #TeamHD, who prepared me and sacrificed a lot to represent God and Philippines well in Olympics,” added Diaz, who is training with Chinese mentor Kaiwen Gao and strength and conditioning coach Julius Naranjo.
Diaz was supposed to compete in the Asian Championship in Kazakhstan, but the organizers begged off because of the health situation. Uzbekistan also declined to host it.
Diaz is currently ranked no. 5 in in the world in the 55kg women’s category with 3,717.0982 points.
She is behind Chinese lifters in Jiang Huihua (4,667.8878), Liao Qiuyun (4,288.9622), Zhang Wangqiong (4,212.6639) and Li Yajun (4,099.0223).
Under the IWF rules, only one weightlifter per country will advance to the Tokyo Olympics, where only the top eight athletes per category will earn Olympic spots.
Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Kristel Macrohon, Rio Olympic veteran Nestor Colonia, Eileen Ando, John Ceniza and Hidilyn’s sister Mary Flor Diaz are also seeking Olympic qualifying berths.
