Striking gold
Hidilyn Diaz–INQUIRER PHOTO/ Sherwin Vardeleon
Hidilyn Diaz unleashed the precise amount of strength needed to claim three gold medals in the 2020 Weightlifting World Cup Tuesday in Rome, Italy.
Diaz, the country’s weightlifting heroine in the Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games, added the world championships to her gold medal collection with a 93kg lift in the snatch before likewise topping the clean and jerk.
She carried a weight of 119kgs in the clean and jerk for a 212kg total that secured her domination of the women’s 55kg category.
Ukraine’s Kamila Konotop placed second with a 196kg total and Nouha Landoulsi of Tunisia settled for the bronze in the total (194kg).
Konotop (90kg) and Landoulsi (86kg) also pocketed the silver and bronze in the snatch while Russian Kristina Novitskaia (109kg) captured the silver in the clean and jerk.
John Fabuar Ceniza, meanwhile, seized a bronze medal in the men’s class.
The Cebuano rallied to finish on the medal podium after lifting 152 kilograms on his final attempt in the clean and jerk to compensate for a 117 kg effort in the snatch.
The combined output in both events gave the 22-year-old Ceniza a total lift of 269, a performance good enough for third place in the men’s 61 kg category behind champion Tuan Kim Thach of Vietnam and silver medalist Shota Mishvelidze of Georgia.
Thach carried 293 kg after posting 161 in the clean and jerk and 132 in the snatch to defeat eight other contenders while Mishvelidze compiled 286. INQ
