Historic Olympic gold: Philippine weightlifter Diaz hailed

With their eyes glued to a television in the southern Philippines, the family of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz yelled “push, push, push!” as she hoisted the bar to win the country’s first Olympic gold medal.

“Then we erupted in joy — we were shouting, some shed tears of joy,” Emelita Diaz said on Tuesday, a day after watching her daughter’s historic performance in Tokyo — far from her hometown of Zamboanga.

“We didn’t know what to feel because we were extremely happy.”

After nearly 18 months training in exile in Malaysia because of Covid-19 restrictions, Diaz smashed her personal best and won gold with a final clean and jerk of 127kg in the women’s 55kg class, AFP reported.

The 30-year-old’s triumph — which followed her silver medal in Rio five years ago — has made her a national hero, alongside the likes of boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.