MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine’s first gold medal Olympian Hidilyn Diaz shows her weightlifting dominance at the ongoing 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Hidilyn bagged the gold medal in the weightlifting women’s 55kg category on Friday, May 20. She scored a total of 206kg, earning her the top podium finish. Hidilyn was 3kg ahead of silver medalist Sanikun Tanasan of Thailand. Tanasan was also a gold medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympics, in a lighter-weight class.

Hidilyn Diaz is women’s weightlifting champion
Congratulations Hidilyn Diaz for winning the gold medal in weightlifting women’s 55kg division! Photo Credit: Reuters/GMA News

Tanasan proved to be a tough challenge as she initially gained a lead in knee and jerk by lifting with a total of 203 kg in her two lifts. But Hidilyn proved she was up for the challenge and lifted an impressive 114 kg just in her first attempt. She grabbed the lead and eventually won the gold.

Indonesia’s Natasya Beteyob took the bronze medal for her 188kg total score.



This is Hidilyn’s second gold in the biennial meet. She first got her gold in the 2019 SEA Games held in the Philippines. She has two silver medals in 2011 and 2013 and a bronze in 2007.

Earlier, Team HD coach and fiancé Julius Naranjo shared on Instagram that Hidilyn stepped into the platform a day before her game to internalize and prepare her mind for the challenge.

He admitted they were up for a bigger challenge after Hidilyn won the first-ever Olympic gold in the country. “We’re as ready as we can be. It’s been a challenge to come back to competition shape, but we have gotten as far as we have because we know what our goals are,” he wrote.

— Sally, The Summit Express



Gold! Hidilyn Diaz is women’s weightlifting champion once more in SEA Games
Source: Trend Buzz Pinoy