Hidilyn Diaz will be taking a pause as she intends to savor the Christmas spirit in the company of her husband and mentor, Julius Naranjo.
During a break of the 2023 Batang Pinoy, Diaz said her psychologist, Dr. Karen Trinidad, advised her to take advantage of the coming holiday season to rest and recuperate in preparation for a serious chase for a return ticket to the Olympics.
“I’m currently doing light training. I need to give myself some time to rest because I joined a lot of tournaments this year,” said the 32-year-old Diaz, who is helping her husband in coaching around 30 young lifters of the HD Weightlifting Academy in shooting for medals in the prestigious annual grassroots tournament.
“My sports psychologist told me I need to miss weightlifting to be sure I really want it.”
Diaz’s season had been tough.
With her weight category — 55 kilograms — getting scrapped, Diaz had to work doubly hard to secure a medal in the 59 kg event of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou last October.
Although she fell short, she was still satisfied with her performance, saying that she is already getting used to competing against bigger, stronger foes.
Her most recent competition was in the IWF Grand Prix II in Doha last week, where she failed to figure prominently after suffering cramps.
With the holidays approaching, Diaz said it is a perfect time for her to reboot in preparation for her Olympic chase, starting with the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand from 31 March to 11 April.
“I was supposed to compete (in the AWF Seniors Cup in Tashkent from 3 to 10 February) but we decided to play in April instead so that I can prepare more and do it in one go in the Olympic qualifiers,” said Diaz, who personally supervised the participation of her nephews, Matthew and Christian, who ruled the 12-under boys 37-kg event and the men’s 16-17 years old 43-kg event, respectively.
She added that she’s happy seeing more kids take up weightlifting compared when she played in the tournament in 2002.
“I was the only competitor in my body weight back when I played in Batang Pinoy. Now, you really have to fight for your gold medal,” Diaz said.
“I’m happy weightlifting is now quite well known. Many kids are joining and I hope it can be included in the Palarong Pambansa to produce more world and Olympic champions.”
