On the road to Paris, Hidilyn sticks to her process
Tokyo gold medalist and 59kg world report holder Kuo Hsing-chu might be Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo hardest foe in Paris. AFP
One other world report holder. 4 further kilograms of muscle mass. A fellow Filipino weightlifter.
Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo’s path to a second Olympic gold medal is suffering from obstacles, however she’s coping with them separately—beginning with the extra weight she is taking over.
“It takes time to construct muscular tissues, it takes time to construct energy. What I’m doing is certainly very tough,’’ Diaz-Naranjo mentioned. The nation’s weightlifting heroine, who gained the primary Olympic gold medal for the Philippines by ruling the 55-kilogram (kg) division in Tokyo, Japan, two years in the past, might be climbing to the next weight class for the Paris Video games.
As an offshoot of the Worldwide Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) disaster with the Worldwide Olympic Committee, the load divisions of the Paris Olympics have been lowered. Diaz-Naranjo thus climbed to the 59-kg class.
“Going as much as 59 kg, I don’t anticipate to win instantly. It’s not simple to regulate straight away, I simply need to belief the method,’’ she mentioned.A part of that course of is dealing with fellow Filipino Elreen Ann Ando—who slid all the way down to 59 kg after competing at 64 kg in Tokyo—within the qualifiers. Solely considered one of them might be given an Olympic berth.
If she will get to Paris, she’ll face a formidable and acquainted foe.
Chinese language Taipei’s Kuo Hsing-chun gained her first Olympic gold additionally in Tokyo with a complete raise of 236 kgs to rule the 59-kg division. Her complete is 12 kgs heavier than Diaz-Naranjo’s golden raise of 224 kgs.
However the Filipino star isn’t seeking to make up the distinction instantly.
“There ought to be progress, but it surely gained’t be as fast as lifting an extra, say, 30 kilos straight away. That’s not the way it works,’’ Diaz-Naranjo mentioned.
Kuo is the world report holder of the 59-kg division, lifting a complete of 247 kg within the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan in 2021. However Diaz-Naranjo has stared down report holders earlier than, beating China’s Liu Qiuyun in Tokyo.
Diaz-Naranjo has additionally outperformed Kuo earlier than. Within the 2011 IWF World Championships in France, a 20-year-old Diaz-Naranjo completed seventh within the match, a qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics. Kuo, then 17, wound up tenth.
Each elite lifters will conflict anew for the primary time since that meet within the 2023 Asian Championships scheduled in Could 3 to 13 in Jinji, South Korea.
“Individuals are telling me that I can do it. I consider so,’’ mentioned Diaz. INQ
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