Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz wins first PH Olympic medal since 1996

A chiseled Filipina athlete broke the country’s 20-year Olympics jinx by winning a medal in the 2016 Rio Games.

Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz bagged silver early morning on Mon, Manila time. She competed in the 53-kg division of the sport, Rappler reports. 

Diaz scored 88 in snatch and 112 in clean and jerk, for a total of 200, against Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Shu-Ching, who scored 212.

South Korea’s Yoon Jin Hee came in at third with 199.

The Rio Games was the third Olympics trip for the 25-year-old Diaz.

She went as a wildcard entry in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She again competed in 2012 at the London Olympics, where was also the country’s flagbearer. 

Interestingly enough, Diaz was the first non-boxer who has won a Olympics medal for the Phlippines since 1936. She was also the first female athlete to enjoy a podium finish. 

Diaz hails from Zamboanga City, a province in the South of the Philippines. She qualified for the Rio Games after winning bronze in the International Weightlifting Federation World Championship in Houston, Texas.

It may be recalled that the Philippines last enjoyed winning an Olympic medal in 1996, when boxer Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco nabbed the silver medal in the Atlanta Games.



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