Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, the renowned weightlifter from Zamboanga, will not be defending her Asian Games gold medal in China this October. Instead, she will be heading to Hangzhou with the intention of winning a new one. Despite not being a qualifying event for the Olympics, Diaz-Naranjo expressed her desire to represent the Philippines once again in the Asian Games, which she considers to be the second-highest competition after the Olympics. She will be competing in the 59-kilogram category, as the 55-kilogram division, which she previously dominated, has been removed from the event.
Diaz-Naranjo’s team initially decided not to participate in the Asian Games, but the Games will provide her with an opportunity for real competition following the World Weightlifting Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, scheduled for next month. It is in these Championships that Diaz-Naranjo will have a chance to secure a slot in the Paris 2024 Olympics. She has already completed two of the five required tournaments to qualify, with the World Championships being her third event. If Diaz-Naranjo ranks in the top 10 in all five meets, she will earn a spot in the Paris Games.
The weightlifter expressed confidence in her ability to compete in both the World Championships and the Asian Games, citing her competition schedule and the time to recover between the two events. Diaz-Naranjo, who recently obtained her business administration degree, has already planned her journey to Paris with her husband and coach, Julius Naranjo, in the hope of making her record fifth straight Olympic appearance.
After the World Championships, Diaz-Naranjo will have two more events in her Olympic qualification itinerary: the 2024 Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and the 2024 IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand. She had to skip the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia this year, where she previously won two gold medals, due to a scheduling conflict with the Asian Championships in Korea.
Diaz-Naranjo made history by winning the first Olympic gold medal for the Philippines in weightlifting at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics. She achieved a total of 224 kilograms, narrowly beating China’s Liao Qiuyun by just one kilo. However, Diaz-Naranjo’s previous coach, Gao Kaiwen of China, is no longer part of her team.
