TOKYO—Hidilyn Diaz’s shot at an Olympic weightlifting gold medal comes around on Monday evening at the Tokyo International Forum.
A silver medalist in Rio de Janeiro five years ago, Diaz’s chance to better that result starts at 6:50 p.m. (Tokyo time).
But Diaz lifting her way to a gold medal—the first since the Philippines started participating in the Games in Paris in 1924—doesn’t look that easy.
An Associated Press prediction of potential medal winners at the Tokyo Olympics included Diaz, but for a bronze medal in the women’s 545-kg class.
In front of the four-time Olympian are world-record holder Liao Qiuyun of China and Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Diaz has repeatedly said.
Liao, at 26 four years younger than Diaz, owns world records in the clean and jerk (129 kgs) and total lift (227). Chinshanlo, on the other hand, remains a suspect with credentials that don’t shadow the Chinese star.
Julius Naranjo, Diaz’s strength and conditioning coach, however, said the reigning Asian Games champion has something up her arms and legs.
“You will expect Hidilyn lift weights that you’ve never seen before. She’s on track. She’s going to put on a show,” Naranjo said.
Naranjo said that Diaz has been hitting new personal marks this late in her career.
The other Philippine bet in weightlifting, Elreen Ando, is due for her Olympic debut in women’s -64 kgs on Tuesday.