By Nick Giongco
Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz yesterday took the bronze medal in the women’s 53kg division of the 2017 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championship in Anaheim, California.
Diaz, 26, only managed to place sixth in the snatch with an 86kg lift but she made up for it by finishing second in the clean and jerk with a 113kg effort for a total of 199kg.
Thailand’s Sopita Tanasan captured the gold medal after dominating the snatch and clean and jerk for a 210kg total. Turkmenistan’s Kristina Shermetova settled for the silver with a 204kg.
Tanasan submitted 96kg in the snatch and 114 in the clean and jerk, while Shermetova 91kg and 113, respectively.
Rounding out the top ten are Supattra Khaewkhong of Thailand (198kg), Joanna Lochowska of Poland (198kg), Yagi Kanae of Japan (195kg), Caitlin Hogan of the US (194kg), Gabriela Lopez of Mexico (184kg), Leticia Laurindo of Brazil (183kg) and Atenery Hernandez of Spain (183kg).
Her third-place finish only proves that Diaz is on track in her dream of making it to her fourth Olympics when the quadrennial event is hosted by Tokyo in 2020.
Diaz also competed in the 2008 (Beijing) and 2012 (London) Olympics and only hit paydirt last year.
Rio Olympics gold medalist Hsu Shu-Ching of Taiwan was unable to complete her participation after sustaining an elbow injury although she posted 93kg in the snatch.
Before taking part in the worlds, Diaz placed second in the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.