HIDILYN DIAZ and her team flew from Kuala Lumpur to Tashkent at dawn on Saturday to participate in the 2021 Asian Weightlifting Championships, the final step toward her official qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.
Diaz, Chinese Coach Kaiwan Gao and strength and conditioning Coach Julius Naranjo opted to fly to the Uzbekistan capital a week before the competition because of the long and exhausting trip.
They departed Kuala Lumpur at 2 a.m. Saturday via United Emirates Airlines and were expected to land after a seven-hour flight in Dubai. After a 17-hour layover, they take a three-and-a-half hour flight to Tashkent.
The continental championships—set from April 15 to 25—is a qualifier for Tokyo, the sixth and last International Weightlifting Federation-sanctioned tournament Diaz needs to complete to advance to her third consecutive Olympics.
All the 30-year-old Diaz needs is to climb the ramp and lift and regardless of whether or not she makes the podium, she will still make it to Tokyo.
“The Olympics are the most important competition in my career,” said Diaz, who clinched a silver medal in women’s 53 kgs at the Rio 2016 Olympics.“I still need one competition or my tuneup before the the Tokyo Olympics.”
Diaz has since moved up in weight and will see action in the 55 kgs category in Tokyo.
Read full article on BusinessMirror