SOTY 2021: Team HD transforms Hidilyn Diaz to an Olympic champion

Meet the Team of the Year
Feb 7, 2022
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ILLUSTRATION: ECHO ANTONIO

HIDILYN Diaz not only won a historic first gold medal for the Philippines in the Olympics, she showed how a holistic approach to the preparation leads to a Filipino champion athlete.

In a move rarely seen by a Filipino athlete, Diaz’s build-up for the Tokyo Olympics had on her side a collection of experts by her side before the competition apart from the usual athlete-coach relationship.

Team of the Year: Team HD

Known as Team HD, selected by SPIN.ph as the Team of the Year for 2021, Diaz leveled up in her training in a bid to win the Olympic gold entering her fourth appearance in Tokyo by having persons on his contingent aside from his Chinese coach Gao Kaiwen who provided the technical expertise to the Filipina weightlifter.

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Diaz also had a strength and conditioning coach and now fiancee Julius Naranjo, who along with Kao joined her in the training camp in Malaysia, an extended stay for the entire team after they were stranded due to the pandemic.

Gao had the know-how, having also produced several champions for China, with Naranjo also helping in building up Diaz physically. But Diaz also needed the help of science in order to succeed. Even when Hidilyn in Malaysia, there was guidance back home as two more persons from Team HD also stood by her to provide optimum preparation for Tokyo.

Jeaneth Aro offered the nutritional needs of Diaz in order for her to stay within her weight while not comprising her strength. Sports psychologist Karen Trinidad complemented on the mental aspect of the training especially with Hidilyn being away from home already for a prolonged period of time.

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“I won’t survive this pandemic without them,” Diaz acknowledged even before winning the gold medal in Tokyo.

In Tokyo, Team HD also mapped out their strategy for the Olympics, and it was implemented through perfection amidst the gamesmanship that weightlifting also possesses.

The result? Diaz beat her Chinese foe Liao Quiyun in an Olympic-record lift of 224 kilograms after a 127 in the clean and jerk, also a Games mark, to end the long 97-year weight of the country to win a gold.

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    Following Diaz’s success, their set-up has now become the standard, with other Filipino athletes now working on a formula in a bid to also win medals come the 2024 Paris Games.

    “Sila ang tao behind my back. Sila ang support system ko since November 2018. Sila ay naniwala sa kakayahan ko,” wrote Diaz on her social media page to hail the members of her team.

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