Olympian Hidilyn Diaz is continuously refining her techniques in Malacca City in Southwestern Malaysia.
The 29-year-old Diaz said she is currently working on her approach, focusing on the hang snatch.
This is a variation of the snatch which is favored among Olympic weightlifters.
The program, made by her coach Julius Naranjo, is expected to help increase the rate of force development at the hips, adding to the explosiveness of Diaz’s lift.
“I might not like the hang snatch (below the knee) programmed by coach Julius, but this is one of my weaknesses that I need to address for the Olympics. I don’t like the hang snatch (BTK) because I feel like it takes too long to execute the snatch,” said Diaz in her message on Instagram.
Diaz is seeking to officially qualify for her fourth Olympics.
She will have a chance to do so again when she joins in the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Uzbekistan this March.
This time, Diaz does not need to win a medal. A podium finish is also not needed for Diaz in the tournament to qualify for the Olympics.
This is because Diaz is currently ranked second in the world in the women’s 55kg category.
The top eight athletes in the world for each of the weight classes are already qualified for the Olympics, on the condition that they join in at least six International Weightlifting Federation-sanctioned tournaments. The Uzbekistan tournament will be her sixth.
Since March, Diaz remained productive while stranded in Kuala Lumpur.
She is currently in Malaysia with her support team, unable to go home since the country imposed its own lockdown last March 18.
Diaz decided to go deep into training in Malaysia last year after she and her support group called off their trip to Cali, Colombia to see action in the 2020 Ibero-America Open and Open Senior Weightlifting Championships.
This was after Colombia closed its borders in response to the coronavirus threat.