Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz is back in the grind as she prepares for the 2017 Weightlifting World Championship on Nov. 28 to Dec. 5 in Anaheim, California.
The pride of Zamboanga is fresh from competing in the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan where she won a bronze medal.
This time around, show vowed to train as hard as she can to duplicate if not better her heroic feat in the Rio Games.
“That’s the biggest event in the weightlifting, lahat ng malalakas andun panigurado,” said the 26-year-old Diaz
yesterday in the first ever sports chat of the POC-PSC Media Group at the Cabana’s function room of the Tennis Center inside RMSC.
“Kaya after ng AIMAG, nag-resume na kaagad ako sa training ko kasi kasunod na kaagad yung world championship,” added Diaz, who recently opened her own gym in her hometown with the support of the MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF) and Meralco.
In the world championship two years ago, Diaz finished third behind Taiwanese Hsu Shu-Ching and Chinesen Chen Xiaoting in the -53kg women’s category.
Diaz’s silver medal effort two years ago ended the country’s medal drought in the Summer Games.
In the AIMAG held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, China’s Liao Qiuyun won the gold medal.
According to Diaz, the medal winners during the 2015 world and 2016 Olympics, and even in the AIMAG are expected to converge in the US, reason why she expects a tough competition.
