BY WAYLON GALVEZ
Despite the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics due to Covid-19, Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz remains focused on training in an effort to stay in shape and ready once action resumes with international tournaments.
Diaz is in Kuala Lumpur for a training camp since mid February as part of her preparation for the Asian Championship.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) decided to postpone the said Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) after Kazakhstan backed out as host and then Uzbekistan begged off to stage the event as replacement because of the widespread of cases.
Early this week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and IOC chief Thomas Bach agreed to postpone the Tokyo Olympics this year, and pushed it back to 2021.
“Not being able to train and stuck at home quarantine has been very difficult for me,” she said on her post via account @hidilyndiaz on Instagram while doing an incline sprint with strength and conditioning mentor Julius Naranjo in a parking lot in KL.
“But I must stay proactive and find ways to keep me moving,” added the reigning Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist.
Like most counties, the government of Malaysia is likewise on a ‘lockdown’ in an effort to stop the spread of the deadly disease.
Diaz and her “Team HD” of Naranjo, Chinese head coach Kaiwen Gao, as well as massage therapist Belen Bañas were forced to leave the facility of the Bukit Posa Training Center because of the lockdown.
At the moment, Diaz said they are staying in an AirBNB, and her coaches have already put together a program for her to continue with her training until the government of Malaysia lifts the lockdown next month.
Diaz is currently at No. 5 in the 55kg category with 3,717.0982 points in the IWF world ranking behind Chinese weightlifters in Jiang Huihua (4,667.8878), Liao Qiuyun (4,288.9622), Zhang Wangqiong (4,212.6639) and Li Yajun (4,099.0223).
However, only one athlete per country will get an Olympic spot, giving Diaz a good chance.
