HIDILYN DIAZ-NARANJO has started to ease her entire system into the 59-kg class—the weightlifting weight class she intends to qualify for in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
It won’s be easy to shift to a heavier weight class as she found her comfort zone in 55 kgs, the division where she won the country’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021.
“I finally recovered and continue to push my mindset of returning to my usual elements,” Diaz-Naranjo told BusinessMirror on Tuesday, adding that first up for her at 59 kgs will be at the Asian Weightlifting Championships from May 3 to 13 in Jinju, South Korea.
Diaz-Naranjo debuted as an unassuming 17-year-old wild card in the 58-kg class at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. She stayed in that division in London 2012, but shed pounds for the 53-kg division and bagged a silver medal at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games.
Unfortunately, the world weightlifting federation scrapped the women’s 55 kgs from the Paris program.
“Be stronger, build more muscles than ever, and my body is becoming more solid than ever. I also got my technique,” she said. “I am really thankful to Team HD for providing everything for transforming me to my competitive self.”
Team HD is composed of her husband strength and conditioning trainer and coach Julius Naranjo, psychologist Dr. Karen Katrina Trinidad and nutritionist Jeneath Aro.
Diaz-Naranjo has won all the possible titles in weightlifting—that Tokyo and an Asian Games gold medal in Jakarta 2018, two Southeast Asian Games crowns and most recently, a world championships sweep in Bogota last December.
“Last January, it was quite hard to build strength again, but I just went back to my strength and my daily routine after dropping my original weight of 55 kgs,” she said. “But my confidence level now is at 80 percent…I’m starting to regain my strength and I’m on the right track.”