Hidilyn off to world tilt next
JAKARTA — Hidilyn Diaz will have only four days of rest before she buckles down to work on her next tour of duty – the World Championships in Turkmenistan in November.
Diaz will be going up in weight from -53 kgs that won her gold in the 18th Asian Games to -55 kgs, a division she said would be her comfort zone.
“The -55 kgs is not actually a choice, but it’s my targeted weight for the gold in Tokyo [2020 Olympics]. It’s a new category in the IWF [International Weightlifting Federation],” she said.
“I feel more comfortable with -55 kgs, it’s less tiring,” she said. “My opponents in that class are strong, but I would stand my ground.”
“In these Asian Games, I was confident of the gold in the -53 kgs, and thank God I got my wish,” she said. “But I have gotten tired of the division.”
Diaz lifted 207 kgs in winning the gold on Tuesday night, beating Turkmenistan’s Kristina Shermetova by a kilo and Thailand’s Khambao Surodchana by 6 kilos.
Diaz said Tokyo 2020 would probably be her last competition.
“I’m 27 years old now and I have been a national athlete for 14 years. In other words, I am no longer young and I’m now one of the veterans,” said Diaz, a business management student at St. Benilde.
“I can see young athletes who have the potential especially in weightlifting. Like myself, they need a program, a personal program like what I have undergone,” she said.
If Diaz retires after Tokyo 2020 — she would be 29 by then — the pride of Zamboanga City, who as a child used to fetch water in pails back home, wanted to have a business of her own — with marriage plans in mind.
“If I retire? Of course, I want to get married,” she said with a smile. “But I want to put up my own business — a restaurant perhaps, investment in the stock market, or go into the rental industry.”
The Asian Games gold meant a guaranteed R6 million for Diaz — R2 million from the government through Republic Act 10699, R2 million from the Philippine Olympic Committee, R1 million from the Siklab Pilipinas Sports Foundation,and another R1 million from Philippine ambassador to Indonesia Lee Hiong Wee.