The Philippines’ first gold medal and Olympic record were the product of all the hard work Hidilyn Diaz and ‘Team HD’ put together that past two years before the Tokyo Olympics.
Diaz said she is forever thankful for winning the gold medal in the 55-kilogram division of women’s weightlifting.
But looking back, she said that it was all about the journey that started when she placed 9th overall in one of the qualifying meets for the Tokyo Olympics, the 2018 World Weightlifting Championship in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
“For me, for ‘Team HD’ we’ll always look back sa mga pinagdaanan namin. Hindi naging madali, may mga doubts nu’ng start ng journey, pero hindi kami nag-give up,” said Diaz.
“Of course, hindi makakalimutan ‘yung saya nu’ng nanalo na, pero ‘yung ginawa naming paghahanda ng ilang taon, hindi ko makakalimutan talaga. Tapos nanalo ako ng gold medal—ito ang naging bunga ng pagod, hirap at sakripisyo para sa bayan.”
The members of ‘Team HD’ are Chinese mentor Gao Kaiwen, strength and conditioning coach Julius Naranjo, sports nutritionist Jeaneth Aro and psychologist Dr. Karen Trinindad.
Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, the journey of ‘Team HD’ was featured in a four-part documentary series on the Facebook page of Kick-Start Coffee Brewed Awakening entitled “Let’s Go HD!”
The documentary series allowed the Zamboanga City native to do a “video diary” naturally done in a free flowing and heartfelt videos, showing a glimpse of the struggles, the highs and lows of being an elite athlete while she was in training camp in Malaysia.
“I hope to inspire a lot of Filipino people (with the documentary). That’s the purpose… malaman ng mga kapwa natin Pilipino kung ano ‘yung naging journey ko and sana ma-inspire sila,” said the 30-year-old Diaz.
Diaz set two Olympic records on her way to a victorious campaign in the Games – her successful lift at 127kgs on her third and last attempt at clean and jerk, and her total of 224kgs.
She bested China’s Liao Qiuyun, the world record holder who finished at 223kgs following her 97kgs in snatch and 126kgs in clean and jerk to earn a silver medal, while Kazakhstan’s Chinshanlo Zulfiya placed third for the bronze with a total of 213kgs— 90kgs in snatch and 123kgs in clean and jerk.