Diaz finds time to celebrate

MANILA, Philippines — Hidilyn Diaz never really got to enjoy the recent holidays since she spent last December competing in the 30th SEA Games where she struck gold and then training for the Roma Weightlifting World Cup in Italy.

The sacrifice paid off as she hauled three golds in the 55kg  division of the World Cup last Tuesday.

“I’m happy. It’s time to celebrate and enjoy,” said Diaz.

Still, it will be a momentary respite for the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist as she will have to prepare for the Asian Championship in Kazakhstan this April for a golden chance to make it to the Tokyo Olympics in July.

The Kazakhstan event will be the required sixth and last event for her to be eligible to claim a spot to the Summer Games.

“Congratulations to Hidilyn Diaz and Team HD for winning another high-level international tournament. With each victory, we see her grow both in confidence in herself and performance,” said MVP Sports Foundation chairman  Manny V. Pangilinan.

“She is paving her way towards, what we all hope to be, a historic Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” he added.

The top 10 lifters per division after the Olympic cycle will all advance to Tokyo and Diaz is closely getting there as she is currently ranked fourth behind three Chinese entries.

Olympic rules, however, allow only one athlete per country for each category, meaning Diaz is technically at No. 2.

So far, the Philippines has qualified two athletes to Tokyo, world champion Carlos Yulo in gymnastics and EJ Obiena in pole vault.