TOKYO—Hidilyn Diaz won the country’s very first Olympic gold medal and win she did in style—not to mention in historic fashion.
Pitted against a Chinese rival who lifted world record numbers in recent years, Diaz—who at 30 is no longer that innocent-looking Olympic debutante as she was in Beijing 2008—made sure that the country, threatened by Covid-19 and drenched by incessant rains the past few days, would have something to celebrate and savor for a long, long time.
“I was surprised that I did it,” Diaz told the post-competition interview. “I couldn’t believe it. Thank you so much to all of you.”
“God prepared me for this, to be strong,” added Diaz, who improved on the silver she clinched in Rio 2016.
China’s Liao Qiuyun gave Diaz the toughest challenge in an exciting women’s 55-kg clash, transforming the event into a one-on-one showdown of strength and strategy. At several instances, it was a psy war between the two superwomen.
But at the end of the session, it was Diaz who was rejoicing and crying—and so did the handful of Philippine delegation that witnessed Philippine history in the making.
Diaz posted a 97-kg lift in snatch and went on to set Olympic records in the clean and jerk (127 kg) and total lift (225 kg), sending China’s Liao Qiuyun to the silver and Kazakhstan’s Zulfiya Chinshanlo to the bronze medal.
The Philippines started participating in the Olympics in Paris in the year 1924.