Congratulations!
It was not an easy task for former Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz to earn the country’s first gold medal in the ongoing 18th Asian Games in Jakarta (Indonesia). It is the same event where she won in the last Olympic, the 53 kg. class in women’s weightlifting. With her medal, she inspired our country’s athletes to strive and hope to win more medals. Although the Gilas Pilipinas basketball team, led by NBA star Jordan Clarkson yielded to powerful China, Diaz gave the much needed encouragement to all the local athletes.
In her first series of attempts, Hidilyn started with 88 kg, followed by 90 kg and then 92 kg. In the final round, she started with 110 kg. and swiftly ended with 115 kg. where she gained the gold medal against strong contenders from Turkmenistan and Thailand. With this development, she gives the country high hopes in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. On the other hand, US trained women’s taekwondo athlete Pauline Loise Lopez gained a bronze medal. As of today, Team Philippines ranks number 14 in the medal standing (1-0-4). China dominates the Asian Games with 27-17-12 (gold-silver-bronze) medal status.