MVPSF ramps up support to Diaz, weightlifting team

January 18, 2020 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — With all eyes looking towards the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, the MVP Sports Foundation has solidified its all-out support to 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist Hidilyn Diaz, so that she can focus on her training and eventually bring pride to the country on the grandest stage.

Diaz, the country’s only female Olympic medalist, has proven to be a consistent force in the international weightlifting scene having conquered the 2018 Asian Games (women’s 53kg gold medalist) and the 2019 SEA Games (women’s 55kg gold medalist) last December. Prior to defending home soil, Diaz also bagged two bronzes (55kg clean and jerk and overall) at the 2019 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships last September in Pattaya, Thailand, which is considered a gold standard Olympic qualifying meet.

Currently, Diaz is ranked fifth in the world behind four lifters who all hail from China. However, given that a country can only send one athlete per weight division in the Olympics, this would bump Diaz up to number two in the Olympic rankings.

Diaz will be participating in the IWF World Cup in Italy this Jan. 25-Feb 1, and the IWF Asian Championships in Kazakhstan on April 16-25, the last two mandatory Olympic qualifiers in hopes she can maintain or even improve her ranking.

In preparation for all these tournaments, including the 2020 Olympics, Diaz is set to completely immerse herself in her extensive training in Taiwan and Japan.

To put herself in the best position to succeed, Diaz has a core team of decorated sports science personnel who travel with her to all trainings and competitions.