ON top of bagging three gold medals in the women’s 55kg division of the recent world weightlifting championships in Bogota, Colombia, Hidylin Diaz-Naranjo also earned vital Olympic qualifying ranking points despite the fact that her weight class has been dropped from the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to weightlifting chief Monico Puentevella.
“Hidy not only bagged three golds at the worlds but she earned Olympic ranking points as well as part of the qualifying process to the Paris Olympics,” Puentevella said, “and it does not matter if the women’s 55kg division won’t be included there.”
The Zamboanga City pride completed her golden treasure chest with the three mints she won in the Colombian capital after winning in the Tokyo Olympic Games last year. She also won a gold in the 2018 Asian Games and back-to-back gold medals in the 2019 and 2022 editions of the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines and Vietnam, respectively.
Choosing either to go down to the 49kg class or moving up to the 59kg category, the country’s first and only Olympic gold medalist has opted for the latter in pursuit of qualifying for her fifth straight Olympic appearance in the French capital two years from now.
Puentevella said Diaz will need to compete in four more International Weightlifting Federation Olympic qualifying competitions to meet the minimum requirement of five qualifiers to book her ticket to Paris.
“Based on her performance in Bogota, I believe that Hidy has a huge chance of qualifying again for the next Olympic and, possibly, add another medal to her weightlifting collection,” said Puentevella, adding Diaz and her team would resume training in New York before returning back to the country.
In moving up to a higher weight division, Diaz faces formidable opposition in Taiwanese Kuo Hsing-chun, who bagged the gold in the 59kg division in the Tokyo Olympics and a silvers at the worlds in Bogota.
Kuo hoisted a total lift of 232 kilos (102 in snatch and 130 in and clean-and-jerk) to settle for runner-up behind Colombian Yenny Alvarez, who lifted the gold with 234 kilos (128-133).
