Philippines Bags First Olympic Gold after 97 Years

Hidilyn Diaz bags the first Olympic Gold medal for the Philippines after winning the women’s 55-kg weightlifting competition at the Tokyo International Forum in Japan Monday night.

The win makes Diaz the first Filipino athlete to win a gold medal in the world’s top sporting event.

Diaz topped China’s Liao Qiuyun in the clean-and-jerk lift as their battle for the gold went down the wire after Diaz and Liao finished with a tie at 97-kg. maximum lift.

Liao answered the tie with a 126-kg. final lift, a move that forced Diaz to top Liao’s effort with a 127-kg. final lift.

Diaz finished the lift smoothly, successfully winning the gold medal, while setting an Olympic record while she’s at it.

Hidilyn Diaz now holds the Olympic record for the most kg lifted in total which stands at 224-kg.

Diaz said after the win that younger Filipino athletes must “dream high.”

She added that the Olympics is also an event where Filipinos can compete at.

“I just want to say that we Filipinos are strong. We Filipinos can compete here at the Olympics. We can do it,” Diaz told Chinese media organization Xinhuanet.

Meanwhile, the Philippines also ends a 97-year drought for bagging a gold medal in the Olympics, in which a few Filipino athletes came close to breaking–most notably Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco during his controversial match in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, a match which some experts believed Velasco got robbed of the gold medal. (GFB)