HIDILYN DIAZ officially claimed her ticket to a fourth-straight Olympic appearance in Tokyo despite finishing outside the podium in the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent on Sunday night.
No regrets for the 30-year-old silver medalist at the Rio 2016 Games whose mission at the continental championships was to formally qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
But Tashkent was a learning experience for Diaz, who was very thankful for having discovered a flaw in her system—not on her lifting skills but with her focus.
“I hesitated,” Diaz intimated to BusinessMirror through a video call a few hours after her competition. “I was a little bit nervous because of the tension and the lack of tournaments.”
“This pandemic is a difficult time for everyone, I didn’t compete for 15 months,” she added.
Lucky for Diaz, the hesitation came in the Uzbek capital, and not in Tokyo.
“The mistake is a blessing in disguise and without this mistake, I won’t learn,” she said. “It’s better that I committed the mistake now, than later [in Tokyo]. I will learn from this.”
Diaz wound up fourth in the women’s 55 kgs category with lifts of 99 kgs in the snatch and 118 kgs in the clean and jerk for a total 212 kgs. She is now competing in a heavier category from Rio, where she was in the 53 kgs class.
China’s Liao Qiuyun and Li Yajun finished solidly at 1-2 with 222 kgs and 221 kgs total lifts, respectively. Uzbek Muattar Nabieva beat Diaz to the bronze by only 1 kg with a total lift of 213 kgs.
“Even though this was just a tuneup tournament, I still really wanted to give my best,” Diaz said. “But I did something wrong. I know I can beat them.”
Diaz became the seventh Filipino to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics so far after gymnast Carlos Yulo, pole vaulter EJ Obiena and boxers Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio, Irish Magno and Eumir Felix Marcial.
And while the focus was on Diaz, another Diaz of the same bloodline started to make a name for herself.
Diaz’s cousin Mary Flor Diaz clinched three silver medals in the non-Olympic qualifying women’s 49-kg class topped by India’s Jhilli Dalabehera on Saturday.
“I am happy for Mary Flor. I know her sacrifices,” said Diaz of her cousin who will turn 22 on May 4.
Four other Filipinos are competing in the championships with Kristel Macrohon and Elreen Ann Ando needing to finish in the top eight of their respective divisions to snatch tickets to Tokyo.
Diaz and her strength and conditioning coach Julius Naranjo and Chinese Coach Kaiwen Gao will fly back to Malacca in Malaysia on Saturday to resume their training camp.
The Olympics are set from July 23 to August 8.
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