Since the Philippines joined the Olympic movement in 1924 — a century ago in Paris — only one person among the tens of millions of Filipinos who have lived in our country for the past 100 years has won an Olympic gold medal.
Not Manny Pacquiao. Not Paeng Nepomuceno. Not Robert Jaworski, Lydia de Vega, Onyok Velasco, Eugene Torre or Bata Reyes. The answer? Hidilyn Diaz.
Three years ago in Tokyo, she achieved a dream that seemed unreachable. For while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has over 200 nations listed under its roster, about 70 countries have never won an Olympic gold medal — a third of all nations.
Hidilyn Diaz’s historic Olympic win in the women’s 55-kg category for weightlifting was that “monkey off our back” moment.
Since then, the 33-year-old Zamboanga-born athlete has become a national hero.
Well, guess what? Hidilyn Diaz Naranjo — Hidilyn got married in 2022 to Julius Naranjo — is not only here in Cebu for the National Weightlifting Championship but she’s here to compete, representing the Philippine Air Force.
Nearly 300 athletes will lift barbells loaded with heavy plates starting today until Friday (June 10 to 15) at the Cube Wing of the SM Seaside City.
There are five Men’s and Women’s divisions in the Senior, Junior, Youth, Collegiate and Secondary categories. Each division has 10 categories for a total of 100 categories in this five-day meet.
Monico Puentevella, the president of the Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP), together with Mr. Mark Aliño, the chairman of SWP, are leading the organizing team in bringing back this prestigious event in Cebu after six years. Patrick Lee, the secretary-general of SWP, arrived in Cebu last Thursday to assist with the preparations.
ANDO AND CENIZA. This star-studded tournament will not only be graced by the gold medalist Hidilyn but also by three Olympians who will be traveling to the Olympics to compete next month.
Weightlifting will field three Filipinos in Paris and two of them are from Cebu: Elreen Ann Ando and John Febuar Ceniza. The third one also hails from Central Visayas: Vanessa Sarno. All three Olympians are in Cebu this week to make exhibition lifts during the program.
“The rest of the national team members will compete this week,” said SWP SecGen Patrick Lee, “including the lifters who went into the Olympic Qualifying rounds, Kristel Macrohon, Rosegie Ramos and Lovely Inan.”
Also competing this week are the Youth and Junior lifters who garnered a whopping 19 golds, 10 silvers, and 4 bronze medals at the 2023 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in India: Alexsandra Ann Diaz, Rose Jean Ramos, Angeline Colonia, Jhodie Peralta, Rosegie Ramos, Rosalinda Faustino, Vanessa Sarno, Prince Keil Delos Santos, Eron Borres, Chriatian Ridriguez and Albert Ian Delos Santos.
OPENING. The competition will start at 12 noon today and will run until 6 p.m. Tomorrow, Tuesday, the competition will resume at 10 a.m.
At 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, it will be the formal opening ceremony with SWP’s Mr. Puentevella and Aliño gracing the occasion together with Hidilyn and our Olympians. Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Garcia and Acting Vice Mayor Dondon Hontiveros are expected to represent the host city.
The National Championships will also serve as final try-outs for the selection for the National Team. The games will also serve as try-outs for the international competiton after the Olympics, which include: the 2024 IWF Junior World Championships in Leon, Spain from Sept. 17 to 27; the 2024 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Manila from Nov. 4 to 14; the 2024 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Chonburi, Thailand from Nov. 21 to 30; and the 2024 IWF World Championships in Manama, Bahrain from Dec. 4 to 14.
The games are open to all for free. See you in the SM Seaside City this week!