MANILA – Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz moved closer to her Olympic return after lifting three gold medals in the 2020 Roma Weightlifting World Cup last night at the Pala Pellicone in Rome, Italy.
A silver medalist during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, she ruled the snatch (93kg) and clean and jerk (119kg) to sweep the women’s 55kg event with a total lift of 212 kilograms.
Ukraine’s Kamila Konotop was behind Diaz’s steps with 196kg in total, while Tunisia’s Nouha Landoulsi bagged the overall bronze medal with a total lift of 194kg.
Diaz, who recently captured her first-ever gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games on top of her 2018 Asian Games gold, is currently ranked No.4 in the women’s 55kg category, topped by Chinese weightlifters Liao Qiuyun, Zhang Wanqiong and Li Yajun.
The victory virtually sealed Diaz’s return stint to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics slated to run from July 24 to Aug.9, but no confirmation from the Philippine Weightlifting Association was received so far.
On early Tuesday morning, Cebuano weightlifter John Fabuar Ceniza also boosted his chance of earning a spot in Tokyo following a bronze medal performance in the men’s 61 kilogram category.
Ceniza had a total lift of 269kg broken down into 117 in the snatch and 152 in the clean jerk. The gold was bagged home by Vietnam’s Kim Tuan Thach, who lifted a total of 288kg, while the silver medal was clinched by Georgia’s Shota Mishvelidge who lifted a total lift 286kg./PN
