THE coming Asian Weightlifting Championship not only serves as an Olympic qualifier for Hidilyn Diaz, but a warm up tournament as well.
Having been holed in Malaysia for more than a year now, Diaz has been inactive the last 12 months or more as she didn’t have the benefit of competing in international tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And so she welcomes the April 15 to 25 meet in Tashkent, Uzbekistan as a chance to shake off the cobwebs and at the same time, book a fourth straight Olympic stint.
“Kailangan ko din ng tune up because more than one year ako walang competition,” said the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympic silver medalist.

“And kailangan ko pang maglaro ng isa pa (to qualify).”
The 30-year-old Diaz noted in her appearance in the new online show Brewed Awakening by Kick-Start Coffee that her last tournament was the 2020 World Cup in Rome January of 2020. She bagged the gold in the meet that came before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Diaz and her team later went to Malaysia to train for the Asian Championship last year, but the tournament was called off.
The Filipina weightlifter has not been home since then, opting to stay with her team in Malacca and continue her training for the Tokyo Olympics.
At the same time, Diaz said giving up on her Olympic bid in this most challenging time would send a bad signal to the youth and future generation of Filipino athletes.

“Napamulat din ako na akala ko puro medal lang ito pag manalo ka sa Olympics. Pero you have a responsibility to the future generation. Doon ko na-realize yung responsibility ko as an Olympic athlete,” she said.
“Saka kung mag give up ako at this time of the pandemic, hindi maganda as inspiration and influence to our youth.”
Despite the difficult time and everything she went through for over a year, Diaz still remains confident of her chances to duplicate if not surpass her silver medal feat in the Olympics four years ago.
“Maraming nagtatanong kung bakit andito pa din ako. May pinaglalaban ako, kasi alam ko kaya nating manalo sa Olympics,” she stressed.
So far, four Filipinos have already clinched berths in the Tokyo Games, namely gymnast Carlos Yulo, pole vaulter EJ Obiena, and boxers Eumir Felix Marcial and Irish Magno.
Diaz hopes to join them soon.
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