Philippines Wins First Olympic Gold Medal In 100-year Attempt

Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz has made Philippines long awaited dream come true on Monday after winning a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The Olympic gold medal is the first ever in the history of the country after its debut at the 1924 Olympics in Paris.

Philippines Wins First Olympic Gold Medal In 100-year Attempt

Diaz won gold in the 55-kilogram category of women’s weightlifting and go a bit further as she also set an Olympic record with her combined weight total of 224 kilograms across two successful lifts.

The 30-year-old Filipino is at her fourth Olympics. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won a silver prize and became the first woman from her country to win an Olympic medal.

Meanwhile, the current gold scuffle was between Diaz and China’s Qiuyun Liao, the world record-holder in the event, of which the last lift sees the former to gold medal.

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Liao stopped lifting at 126 kilograms while Diaz responded by lifting 127 kilograms, which is a new record in the Olympics game so far and also a famine breaker for Philippines.

In summary, Liao settles for silver, and Zulfiya Chinshanlo, from Kazakhstan earned bronze medal to honour her country.

While speaking during a short interview, Diaz shared her experience and sacrifice; “I sacrificed a lot. I wasn’t able to be with my mother and father for how many months and years and then of course, training was excruciating,” Diaz said afterward, “But God had a plan.”