Hidilyn’s advice to Ando

MANILA, Philippines — Hidilyn Diaz was 17 when she made her Olympic debut in the 58 kilogram division of women’s weightlifting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In Tokyo, she’ll make her fourth Olympic appearance, this time in 55 kilograms, after London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. With Diaz in Tokyo will be rookie Olympian Elreen Ann Ando who’s competing in 64 kilograms.

Ando, 22, was a surprise entry and booked her ticket as Asia’s No. 2 lifter under the continental quota. At the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Uzbekistan last April, she took a bronze in snatch (94 kg) and silvers in clean-and-jerk (119 kg) and total (213 kg), the same aggregate that fell one short of equaling the gold standard at the 2019 SEA Games. In the Olympics, she’ll be among 14 contenders, including Canada’s Maude Charron, Colombia’s Mercedes Perez, Ecuador’s Angie Palacios, UK’s Sarah Davies and Chinese-Taipei’s Chen Wen-huei whose personal total bests are in the range of 226 to 240 kg.

Diaz said her advice to Ando is to enjoy the moment. “It’s her first time and it won’t be the last,” she said. “In three years, the next Olympics will be in Paris. Although Elreen wasn’t expected to qualify, she deserved it. Whatever happens, she should just enjoy the experience, even the tears if they come and learn from the lessons that will improve her for 2024.” Diaz said she was once an Olympic rookie and oblivious to the event. But she soaked in the challenge until eventually bagging a silver in 2016.

Aside from the rigors of competition, what concerns Diaz is COVID-19. Still, she said it won’t scare her to stay stuck in fear. Diaz was supposed to set up training camp in Taiwan but it wasn’t possible with her Chinese coach Kaiwen Go. So her team relocated to Kuala Lumpur in February last year. A lockdown in the Malaysian capital prompted Diaz, Go and strength and conditioning coach Julius Naranjo to move to Malacca last October. They improvised a platform and did backyard training as Diaz got ready to make history as the first-ever Filipina to perform in four Olympics.

Ando is one of five Olympians flying to Tokyo from the Philippines. The others are taekwondo’s Kurt Barbosa, golf’s Juvic Pangunsan, shooter Jayson Valdez and rower Cris Nievarez. The rest of the 19-strong lineup is checking in from different countries. Ando, Barbosa and Valdez landed in Tokyo last Sunday as did Diaz from Malaysia. Nievarez arrived last Saturday. Pagunsan will touch down on Saturday.