FILE – Hidilyn Diaz hopes to transform her Rio de Janeiro silver into Tokyo gold.SHERWIN VARDELEON/INQUIRER
MANILA, Philippines–With less than three months left before the Olympics, Hidilyn Diaz wanted to up the ante in terms of her own training: Longer hours, more sessions and better recovery.
For her, it’s all out for the gold medal in Tokyo.
“I’m thirsty for gold,” said Diaz, Rio Olympics weightlifting silver winner, during Friday’s online presser arranged by Summit Water. “I”m not going to hold back. I’m training to win the gold medal.”
She just returned from Uzbekistan for the Asian championship which allowed her to gauge the competitions in the Olympics.
“I like what I saw,” she said in Filipino. “My timing is ok, my nutrition is ok. But I need to add intensity in my training.”
So instead of her usual 6-8 training sessions a week, she wanted it extended to 8-10 sessions. “I also want my massage session to two times a week instead of one, to allow quicker recovery,” she said.
“This is very special for me, because my first Olympics I didn’t know what’s going on, in second Olympics I qualified, and in my third Olympics I won silver,” she said.
Her fourth stint, though, puts her within striking distance of nailing what scores of Filipino athletes failed to do since the country started competing in 1924.
“Many things happened, the pandemic, the isolation, we thought it wasn’t going to push through,” said Diaz. “But the important thing is that I’m prepared whatever happens.”
Diaz is currently Malaysia where she has been staying since last year. She said he’s going straight to Japan from Kuala Lumpur.
“Right now I try to master my technique, but my biggest motivation is my desire to be an inspiration for the people especially in this time of pandemic,” she said.