RIO DE JANEIRO – Hidilyn Diaz broke a 20-year medal drought for the Philippines after copping the silver medal in the weightlifting competitions of the XXXI Olympiad.
Diaz lifted a total of 200 kilograms to finish second and bag the silver medal behind gold medalist Hsu Shu-Ching of Chinese Taipei in the women’s 53 kg. class.
The finish allowed Diaz, seeing action in her third Olympiad, to become the first Filipino in 20 years to win an Olympic medal.
Boxer Mansueto ?Onyok? Velasco was the last one to win a medal for the Philippines in the Summer Games during the 1996 edition in Atlanta.
Diaz also became the first ever Filipina and weightlifter to win a medal for the country.
The 25-year-old native of native of Zamboanga City previously competed in the 2008 Beijing (wildcard) and 2012 London Olympics, respectively, but came home empty handed on both campaigns.
This time, there was no denying her.
It was an unlikely turn of events for Diaz, who was actually about to settle for the bronze since fancied Li Yaun of China still has two attempts left in the clean and jerk.
But to the horror of the crowd at the Riocentro Pavilion 2, Li, who just a while ago, set an Olympic record in the snatch after lifting 101 kilograms, couldn?t hoist her final two attempts at 126 kilos, thus eliminating her from a podium finish.
Shu-Ching won the gold convincingly with a total lift of 212 kgs. or 12 ahead of Diaz.
The Filipina actually had a slow start when she only lifted 88 kilos in the snatch to finish fifth at the halfway mark of the competition.
Li quickly showed the way following her record breaking feat at 101 kgs, followed by Shu-Ching with 100.
But Diaz bounced back in the clean and jerk, lifting 112 kilos on her second try to surpass third-running Yoon Jun Hee of South Korea and assure herself of a podium finish.
?Thank you, Lord,? she shouted shortly after.
Hsu lifted 112 kg on her second try and didn?t even bother to lift a third try following the disastrous finish by the Chinese lifter.
