Weightlifting champion Hidilyn Diaz announced she would move to heavier weight division when she guns for a second Olympic gold medal in the 2024 Paris Games.
“Mahirap, pero kaya. Basta naka-mindset na ako for that,” said Diaz, who arrived in the country Tuesday, Dec. 20, following her successful three-gold-medal haul at the IWF World Championships in Bogota, Colombia.
Diaz’s decision to climb to the 59kg division stemmed after her weight class – the 55kg where she won the country’s first gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games – was scrapped in Paris.
The two-time Olympic medalist said the development is not easy, but she is confident that she could pull it off.
“Pinanuod ko yung 59kg na labanan sa Colombia and nakita namin na kakayanin naman,” said Diaz.
Interestingly, Elreen Ando competed in the 59kg class at the world championship but did not finish. Colombian Yenny Fernandez bagged the gold in that division.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Hsing-chun claimed the gold in record-breaking fashion.