exercises before lifting weights
EVERYTHING in Tashkent has been cooperating with Hidilyn Diaz, who, in a day’s time, will step up the Asian Weightlifting Championships ramp to formally claim her ticket to Tokyo for her fourth consecutive Olympic appearance.
“I am really excited for Sunday,” said Diaz, who arrived with her team on Monday in the Uzbekistan capital from her training camp in Malacca, Malaysia.
With the time zone in this landlocked western Asian country only three hours behind that of the Philippines and Malaysia, Diaz needed little time to adjust her body clock.
And the Uzbek food and weather suited Diaz and co.
“Tashkent is good. The food is good and the weather is not cold,” said Julius Irvin Naranjo, Diaz’s strength and conditioning coach. “We acclimated to the time difference now so it’s great.”
Diaz jumped into training at the Uzbekistan Sports Complex on Thursday along with teammates Kristel Macrohon (76 kg), Elreen Ann Ando (64 kg), Mary Flor Diaz (45 kg), Elien Rose Perez (49 kg), Margaret Colonia (59 kg), Vanessa Sarno (71 kg), John Febuar Ceniza (61 kg) and John Dexter Tabique (96 kg) and Head Coach Gary Hortelano. They arrived in Tashkent on Thursday.
Diaz, also accompanied by Chinese Coach Kaiwen Gao, said quarantine protocols aren’t as stringent as they are back home. But a wall separates the competitors as they train individually.
All Diaz needs to officially qualify for the Olympics is to participate in her category, the women’s 55 kgs class.
“But you know me, I always do my best in whatever competition,” she said. “But the Olympics remains to be the ultimate competition. Please pray for us.”
Diaz is a shoo-in for Tokyo by virtue of her ranking—the Rio 2016 silver medalist is ranked fifth in her class behind China’s Jiang Huihua, Liao Qiuyun, Zhang Wanquiong and Li Yajun (4,099.0223).
But because only one athlete per country is allowed in a weight category to compete in Tokyo, Diaz got herself to No. 2. The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) rules that the top 8 in each class qualify for Tokyo.
Also, the IWF obliges qualifiers to compete in at least six of its sanctioned tournaments to earn an Olympic slot. In Diaz’s case, the Tashkent competition is her sixth.
Diaz competes starting at 9 p.m. (Manila time) on Sunday. The championships end on April 25.