By Waylon Galvez
Samahang Weighlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella Friday confirmed that Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz is already in Colombia for the South American-Ibero American and Open Senior’s Championship set Match 18 to 23.
Hidilyn Diaz (MB File Photo)
“By this time she’s already there,” said Puentevella Friday in a phone interview with the Bulletin.
The Columbia tournament serves as an Olympic qualifier and the 28-year-old Diaz, silver medalist in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, is just one short of an OQT to formalize her entry to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Diaz's mentor Kaiwen Gao of China and strength and conditioning coach Junius Naranjo were forced to look for other OQTs after the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) cancelled the Asian Championship due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Kazakhstan was supposed to stage the event but backed out, while Uzbekistan begged off as replacement for the same reason.
By participating in Colombia, regardless of her finish, Diaz would automatically qualify to the Summer Games.
Diaz is currently at fifth spot in the 55kg women’s category with 3,717.0982 points, 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).
Under the rules, however, only one weightlifter per country will advance to the Games in July, if the quadrennial sports spectacle doesn't suffer the same fate as other canceled events around the world.
Before flying to Colombia, Diaz has been training for a month in Malaysia.
Hidilyn Diaz (MB File Photo)
“By this time she’s already there,” said Puentevella Friday in a phone interview with the Bulletin.
The Columbia tournament serves as an Olympic qualifier and the 28-year-old Diaz, silver medalist in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, is just one short of an OQT to formalize her entry to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Diaz's mentor Kaiwen Gao of China and strength and conditioning coach Junius Naranjo were forced to look for other OQTs after the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) cancelled the Asian Championship due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Kazakhstan was supposed to stage the event but backed out, while Uzbekistan begged off as replacement for the same reason.
By participating in Colombia, regardless of her finish, Diaz would automatically qualify to the Summer Games.
Diaz is currently at fifth spot in the 55kg women’s category with 3,717.0982 points, 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).
Under the rules, however, only one weightlifter per country will advance to the Games in July, if the quadrennial sports spectacle doesn't suffer the same fate as other canceled events around the world.
Before flying to Colombia, Diaz has been training for a month in Malaysia.