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    Hidilyn on Team HD: 'I won't survive this pandemic without them'

    Hidilyn on Team HD: 'I won't survive this pandemic without them'
    Jul 10, 2021

    HIDILYN Diaz credited the work her support group has done in preparing her for the Tokyo Olympics in this very challenging time.

    The 30-year-old Filipina lifter, silver medal winner in the Rio De Janeiro Games five years ago, said her team was what kept her going in continuously training away from home after being locked down in Malaysia since last year following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    High-definition support

    Referred to as ‘Team HD,’ the small but compact group that has been with Diaz since the 2019 World Championship in Thailand is composed of Chinese coach Kaiwen Gao, strength and conditioning coach Julius Naranjo, sports nutritionist Jeaneth Aro, and sports psychologist Dr. Karen Trinidad.

    Hidilyn Diaz training

    It is this same team that kept Diaz focused following the postponement of the Olympiad last year, and now down to its final two weeks before Tokyo opens its door to what has been referred to as the ‘Greatest Show on Earth.’

    “I won’t survive this pandemic without them,” said a rather emotional Diaz during Episode 2 of the documentary ‘Let’s Go HD!’ shown on the Kick-Start Coffee Brewed Awakening Facebook page.

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    “It’s been a roller coaster ride. It’s really important to have people behind me during this preparation towards Tokyo 2020. Kung gagawin ko lahat ng trabaho, baka maubos ang time ko kaka-research kung paano ako mag-progress sa sports na ito.”

    Team HD didn’t start on the right note when it was first assembled in 2019, copping just two bronze medals in the women’s 55-kilogram division in its initial tournament during the World Weightlifting Championships in Thailand.

    But Diaz did win her first-ever gold in the Southeast Asian Games held later in the year when she ruled the same weight division.

    A month later, the Filipina captured three gold medals in the same category in the Roma 2020 Weightlifting World Cup, giving her the needed momentum going to her Olympic training camp in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where Diaz was supposed to compete in the Asian Championship prior to the Tokyo Games.

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    But then, COVID-19 changed all of their plans.

    Confined in Malaysia, Diaz, Gao, and Naranjo had to bounce from one studio flat to another as the training facility where they’ve been training was closed down due to COVID-19 protocols.

    Eventually, Team HD found a place to settle in at City of Malacca, where Diaz has been training the last few months.

    Diaz officially clinched an Olympics berth – her fourth straight since as a wild card entry in the 2008 Beijing Games – when she participated in the Asian Championship last April in Uzbekistan despite not winning a medal of any color.

    Nonetheless, Hidilyn said she already knows the kind of competition waiting for her in Tokyo with the lifter from China expected to give her the toughest yet in pursuit of the country’s first-ever gold medal in the quadrennial meet.

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      There’s also the entries from countries such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Japan.

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      “Kilala ko na sino ang mga makakalaban ko sa Tokyo. Kilala ko na sila, alam ko na first diyan China… ako sumusunod sa China – at gusto talunin ng China. Hopefully ito na, kala ko kasi nung 2019 kaya ko na siya talunin, baka ito na yung (year) binigay ni God sa akin,” said Diaz.

      The weightlifting event in the Tokyo Games will start on July 24, a day after the formal opening ceremony, although Diaz won’t be competing until two days later on the 26th.

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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