Hidilyn Diaz dominates World Weightlifting Championships with gold medal sweep
By Ryan General
Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz is bringing home three gold medals from the 2022 IWF World Championships, the first qualifying competition for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The 31-year-old weightlifting star from the Philippines swept all three gold medals in the women’s 55kg division of the event held in Bogota, Colombia, on Dec. 7.
Diaz won her first gold by lifting 93 kilograms in the snatch and then secured the second with a 114 kg clean and jerk, giving her a total lift of 207 kg, defeating Rosalba Morales of Colombia (total lift of 199 kg) and Ana Gabriela Lopez of Mexico (total lift of 198 kg).
Diaz also attempted to clean and jerk 117 kg and 121 kg but failed her lifts.
The World Championship crown is the latest addition to the Filipino athlete’s collection of gold medals, which include the awards she won from the Olympics last year, the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games.
Diaz settled for bronze finishes in previous world championship outings, which include the women’s 53kg division in 2015 and 2017 and another in the 55kg division in 2019.
She missed the World Weightlifting Championships last year in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, after she had just won the historic Olympics gold for the Philippines.
Diaz’s latest victory was hailed by Philippine Sports Commission chairman Noli Eala, who said: “Hidilyn has proven once again that the fire in her heart to be second to none in her field continues to burn and remains the benchmark by which every weightlifter and Filipino athlete must measure themselves against.”
The new world champion now has her sights set on the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, which could see her competing in a higher weight class since the 55kg division has been removed from future contests.
“This is my final lift at 55 kgs category and I’m happy to end it as IWF World Champion,” Diaz shared on social media.
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