SAKHIR, Bahrain – Hidilyn Diaz’s imprint in Philippine weightlifting will live on in the years to come.
Especially with the way two of her nieces have been showing a lot of promise in the sport that made her aunt a legend in Philippine sports.
Princess Jay Ann Diaz and Alexsandra Ann Diaz delivered three of the four bronze medals won by the Philippine weightlifting team at the 3rd Asian Youth Games.
READ 'Coach Hidy' both a mentor and inspiration to aspiring lifters
Alexsandra won bronze in the girls’ 48kg clean and jerk, while Princess took home the same medal color in the girls’ 44kg clean and jerk in a proud moment for the Diaz cousins.
Competitions in weightlifting came to an end on Tuesday with the Philippines winning a silver and four bronzes. Jhodie Peralta won a silver and bronze in the girls' 53 kg snatch and clean and jerk, respectively, while the other bronze was courtesy of Jay-R Colonia in the boys' 56kg clean and jerk.
Allen Jayfrus Diaz is one of the four coaches of the team and father to Princess. He, Alexsandra’s father, and Hidilyn are cousins.
The Diazes of course, are proud products of their aunt’s well-known training center in Mampang, Zamboanga City and looked up to the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal winner as their greatest inspiration.
“Sobrang laki pong inspirasyon kasi gusto rin namin maging kagaya niya, na maging isang Olympian,” said Princess.
Both cousins naturally share the same goal.
And slowly, they’re trying to inch closer to that purpose after holding their own against the best Asian athletes in the 14-18 years old age group.
Princess, 17, felt elated with the podium finish since it’s something that she didn’t expect.
“Expectations po naming is mag-enjoy lang kami sa laro. Kung hindi kami magka-medal at least, enjoy lang,” said the student of Global Technical School of Zamboanga.
She lifted 78 kg in the clean and jerk, which was won by Priteesmita Bhoi of India (92kg), and missed out on another bronze in the snatch, losing by just a kilo to Dao Thi Yen of Vietnam (63kg to 64kg).
Aleksandra, the younger of the two at 14, snatched a bronze also in the clean and jerk with a lift of 92 kg, missing the gold by just a kilo after Lan Xinyi of China did 93kg in her second attempt.
A double gold winner in the IWF Youth and Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru, Aleksandra admitted tempering expectations here where she admitted facing a tougher field of opposition.
“Hindi ko ini-expect na mag-medal ang lakas ng mga kalaban,” said the student of Mampang National High School.
“Kaya ang attitude ko fight lang po.”
Exactly the same advice Tita Hidilyn usually gives to them.
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