ALTHOUGH chances are slim for a gold medal for lone Filipino bet to the weightlifting competition of the Beijing Olympics, Hidielyn Diaz’s coach Mon Solis remains optimistic.
Diaz did not qualify for the Olympics after falling short in her total lifts in the Southeast Asian Games, where she won a bronze medal. However, the International Weightlifting Federation had seen her potential that is why she was picked as a wildcard entry.
“That was what they did to the Thais in the 90s. If they see someone with potential, they give them a chance to compete in the Olympics and the Thais have been winning gold medals since then. They must have seen a potential in Hiedie,” Solis said.
As for Diaz, Solis’ confidence came after his protégée’s impressive performance in the training in China.
Solis, Diaz and two other junior lifters, 16-year-old Cebuana Kellie Kaye Rojas and 17-years-old Nestor Colonia of Zamboanga City, arrived from a three-month training in China, where they trained side-by-side some members of their national weightlifting team.
“It was a very fruitful experience because our lifters really showed improvement there, including Hiedie, which was important because she will be competing in the Olympics,” he added.
Diaz said that she could not predict what the outcome of her performance will be. “Tingnan lang po natin. Bata pa rin po kasi ako madami-dami pa ako dapat matutuhan,” said the 17-year-old Diaz.
Solis, however, is in high spirits. “Anything could still happen. Things are very unpredictable in the Olympics,” said Solis, who was an Olympian himself.
Doping
Other factors considered are players failing to make weight, failing to arrive on time.
“And there is always doping. A lifter named Salvador del Rosario, finished fourth place in a world championship in the 90s.
However, the top three tested positive for a banned substance and so del Rosario won the gold,” Solis said.
Diaz’s erstwhile best finish was a total of 180 kilograms in the Thailand Sea Games. She improved by 10 kilos while in China.
Meanwhile, Rojas, who was once the little girl in the weightlifting team of University of Cebu, has reached far. Now a teenager, Rojas was training in China to prepare for the World meet for junior lifters in South Korea with Colonia and Diaz.
Rojas had a 9-kilogram improvement, while Colonia, made a whooping 33 kilo development in his lifts. (MCB)
