Weightlifting: Hidilyn Diaz awaits IWF decision
Published Mar 17, 2020 12:00 am
By Waylon Galvez
Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz is one of many awaiting for a decision by the International Weightlifting Federation as the board is set to meet March 18 and 19 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Colombia's travel ban on Asians and Europeans forced Hidilyn Diaz to skip an important tournament that could have been her final OQT to formalize her 2020 Tokyo Olympics berth. (MB File Photo)
The federation is expected to tackle the cancelation of various Olympic Qualifying Tournaments or OQTs in different parts of the world like the Asian Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Diaz was originally set to compete in the Asian Championship, but after its cancelation opted to compete in the South American-Ibero American and Open Senior’s Championship slated March 18-25 in Cali, Colombia only to be turned away by organizers.
A travel ban imposed by the Colombian government on Asians and Europeans forced Diaz to skip the important tournament which would have been her sixth and final OQT to formalize her entry to this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
All she can do now is wait.
“We don’t know yet, hihintayin pa namin ang decision ng IWF,” said Diaz in a message to The Bulletin. “There are things we can’t control and we can’t do anything.”
The magnitude of the health crisis staggers Diaz.
“The effects of N-Covid19 is something unimaginable. Most of my Olympic Qualification events are postponed or cancelled, travel ban, city lockdown and country lockdown,” she said.
“Panic, fear and frustration is controlling us right now.”
Despite this, Diaz said she will continue to train, stressing: “As an athlete, we don’t stop when we fail once, even twice, the most important thing is we do our best and at the end of the day we won’t regret anything.
“I will remain focused and determined to improve every single day together with #TeamHD who prepared me and sacrificed a lot to so I can represent God and the Philippines well in Olympics.”
Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) chief Monico Puentevella said he has proposed to the IWF to accept five OQTs instead of the original six because of the current health crisis.
At the moment, Diaz is at No. 5 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). Only one athlete per country, however, will get an Olympic spot.
Other local weightlifters needing to compete for their sixth OQT but whose tournaments were called off are Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Kristel Macrohon, Rio Olympic veteran Nestor Colonia, as well as Eileen Ando, John Ceniza and Mary Flor Diaz.
Diaz is currently training in Malaysia and she has been in the Kuala Lumpur for a month now with the rest of her team, which include Chinese head coach Kaiwen Gao and strength and conditioning mentor Julius Naranjo.
She posted a video on her Instagram from a previous competition in the Roma World Cup where she bagged the gold medal in the 55kg women’s category, and it also included a lengthy caption of the struggles everybody is facing and hope of bouncing back from this malaise.
Colombia's travel ban on Asians and Europeans forced Hidilyn Diaz to skip an important tournament that could have been her final OQT to formalize her 2020 Tokyo Olympics berth. (MB File Photo)
The federation is expected to tackle the cancelation of various Olympic Qualifying Tournaments or OQTs in different parts of the world like the Asian Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Diaz was originally set to compete in the Asian Championship, but after its cancelation opted to compete in the South American-Ibero American and Open Senior’s Championship slated March 18-25 in Cali, Colombia only to be turned away by organizers.
A travel ban imposed by the Colombian government on Asians and Europeans forced Diaz to skip the important tournament which would have been her sixth and final OQT to formalize her entry to this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
All she can do now is wait.
“We don’t know yet, hihintayin pa namin ang decision ng IWF,” said Diaz in a message to The Bulletin. “There are things we can’t control and we can’t do anything.”
The magnitude of the health crisis staggers Diaz.
“The effects of N-Covid19 is something unimaginable. Most of my Olympic Qualification events are postponed or cancelled, travel ban, city lockdown and country lockdown,” she said.
“Panic, fear and frustration is controlling us right now.”
Despite this, Diaz said she will continue to train, stressing: “As an athlete, we don’t stop when we fail once, even twice, the most important thing is we do our best and at the end of the day we won’t regret anything.
“I will remain focused and determined to improve every single day together with #TeamHD who prepared me and sacrificed a lot to so I can represent God and the Philippines well in Olympics.”
Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) chief Monico Puentevella said he has proposed to the IWF to accept five OQTs instead of the original six because of the current health crisis.
At the moment, Diaz is at No. 5 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). Only one athlete per country, however, will get an Olympic spot.
Other local weightlifters needing to compete for their sixth OQT but whose tournaments were called off are Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Kristel Macrohon, Rio Olympic veteran Nestor Colonia, as well as Eileen Ando, John Ceniza and Mary Flor Diaz.
Diaz is currently training in Malaysia and she has been in the Kuala Lumpur for a month now with the rest of her team, which include Chinese head coach Kaiwen Gao and strength and conditioning mentor Julius Naranjo.
She posted a video on her Instagram from a previous competition in the Roma World Cup where she bagged the gold medal in the 55kg women’s category, and it also included a lengthy caption of the struggles everybody is facing and hope of bouncing back from this malaise.