Philippine weightlifting heroine Hidilyn Diaz showed the world-class stuff that she is made of, bouncing back from two failed attempts in the snatch to salvage two bronze medals in the 55-kilogram category of the IWF World Championships in Thailand.
Chinese Liao Qiuyun topped the two events with a 227-kg total for the gold medal while compatriot Zhang Wanqiong (222-kg) settled for silver in the global tournament that serves as one of the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Diaz lifted 93-kg in the snatch and bounced back with a pair of bronzes in the clean and jerk (123-kg) and total (213-kg) to knock Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan out of the podium in the total.
Those twin bronzes mirror the current standing of the 28-year-old Diaz, who is being funded by the Philippine Sports Commission and MVP Sports Foundation for the Olympics where the country hopes to finally end its hunt for a first gold.
Since only one lifter from each country will be allowed to compete in Japan, Diaz’ third place finish in Thailand could be good for second place behind one of the Chinese.
“Coming from [world] rank 11 last year to being in the top three this year is a testament to how focused collective efforts truly work,” said Jeaneth Aro, Diaz’ nutrition coach.