Hidilyn Diaz

Hidilyn Francisco Diaz-Naranjo (Tagalog: [haɪdiˈlin ˈdias naˈɾanho]; born February 20, 1991) is a Filipino weightlifter, educator, and airwoman. The first Filipino to win an Olympic gold medal, she holds two Olympic records in weightlifting for her performance at the women's 55 kg category for weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

In her early weightlifting years, she was a bronze medalist in the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand and achieved 10th place at the 2006 Asian Games in the 53-kilogram class. While she was a student and representing Universidad de Zamboanga, she won two golds and one silver in the Asian Youth/Junior Weightlifting Championship held in Jeonju, South Korea. She competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she was the youngest competitor in the women's 58-kg category.

In the 2016 Summer Olympics, Diaz won the silver medal in the women's 53-kg weight division, the first Filipino to win a medal in a non-boxing event since 1936 and ending the Philippines' 20-year Olympic medal drought. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Diaz became the country's first Olympic gold medalist. She also set Olympic records for the 55 kg division in the clean and jerk at 127 kg and in the total at 224 kg.

Early life and education

Hidilyn Francisco Diaz is the fifth of six children of Eduardo and Emelita (née Francisco) Diaz. Her father was a tricycle driver before becoming a farmer and a fisherman. She grew up wanting to be a banker and trying several sports, like basketball and volleyball. Her cousin, Allen Jayfrus Diaz, taught her the basics of weightlifting.

Diaz attended the Zamboanga A.E. Colleges (later Universidad de Zamboanga; UZ) for her high school studies under a scholarship. In college, she pursued a bachelor's degree in computer science at the same school. She then stopped attending the university as a third year irregular student as she found her degree unsuitable for her. She also claimed that it distracted her training. After her success in the 2016 Olympics, Diaz decided to continue her tertiary education and intended to pursue a degree related to sports in Manila.

In January 2017, Diaz received a scholarship to study business management at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

In 2019, Diaz took a leave of absence from her schooling while she focused on preparation for the Olympics after winning the Asian Games. In 2020, Diaz re-enrolled into online classes because the 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed to July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July 2023, Diaz graduated from Saint Benilde and earned her business management degree.

In October 2024, Diaz enrolled in a short course, the Athlete Career Transition Sports Ethics and Integrity at KU Leuven in partnership with the International Olympic Committee Solidarity in Belgium.

In 2026, Diaz became a teaching staff of the College of Human Kinetics at the University of the Philippines Diliman, instructing physical education classes at the undergraduate level.

Competitive career

First learning weightlifting from her older cousins, Diaz initially lifted using makeshift barbells made of mag wheels or concrete. Prior to high school, Diaz joined the University of Zamboanga's (UZ) extension program to train in weightlifting under her cousin Catalino Diaz who was also her first coach. Elementary students not enrolled in UZ were able to train under the program of Institute of Human Kinetics director Elbert Atilano. She had to do part-time work to fund her transportation to a local gymnasium. Her part-time jobs were selling vegetables and fish and washing jeepneys. Diaz's first competition was the 2002 Batang Pinoy in Puerto Princesa. She went on to compete in various local and national competitions and secured support from the local government. Diaz became part of the Philippine national weightlifting team at age 13.

2008 Summer Olympics

Diaz was selected as a wild card entry to the Beijing Olympics by the Philippine Weightlifting Association in early 2008. This made her the first female weightlifter to compete for the Philippines in the Olympics, and the sixth weightlifter overall (the first being Rodrigo del Rosario competing in 1948 London Olympics). Competing in the women's 58-kg class, 17-year-old Diaz lifted 85-kg in the snatch and 107-kg in the clean and jerk for a 192-kg total, breaking the Philippine record that she herself set at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games. Although she placed second to last in a field of 12 weightlifters, her performance was praised and considered promising for her age. Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez once commented that she competed there to gain valuable experience and predicted that she would be a strong contender in future competitions.

2012 Summer Olympics

Diaz became the first Filipina weightlifter to compete in two consecutive Olympics, by qualifying in the women's weightlifting under 58 kg through the Continental and World Qualifying Tournaments. She was ranked ninth in her event heading to the Olympics. During the 2012 London Olympics, Diaz was chosen to be the flagbearer during the Opening Ceremony.

She was coached by Tony Agustin, and they projected a 225 kg lift, above her personal best of 219 kg. She successfully lifted a personal best of 97 kg in the snatch, 12th best among the 19 competitors. However her 118 kg clean and jerk was unsuccessful after three attempts. She was one of two competitors (along with Lina Rivas of Colombia) to end with an official result of "Did not finish" (DNF) in the event.

2015 to 2016 season

Diaz weighed around 56.28 kg during her first Olympic campaign, making her the lightest among competitors. Come the 2012 Olympics, she had increased her weight to 57.70 kg but still struggled making it to the top half of the competition. Trying to improve her chances of landing a podium finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Diaz decided to drop weight from under 58 kg to under 53 kg. This proved to be effective as she won the gold medal in the 1st Southeast Asian Weightlifting Championship in Bangkok. In that competition, she managed to lift a 98 kg snatch and a 115 kg clean and jerk for a 213 kg total. The same mark was also good for 4th place later on in the 2012 London Olympics.

In the Asian Weightlifting Championships, Diaz won both a gold medal in 2015 and a bronze medal in 2016. She also earned three bronze medals for the clean, jerk and snatch events in the 53 kg division of the IWF World Weightlifting Championship held in Houston, Texas, on November 22, 2015, to claim a spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In March 2016, Diaz dominated the women's 58 kg event of the 2015-16 Philippine National Games National Finals held at Lingayen Town Plaza, Lingayen, Pangasinan, with a 92 kg snatch and 120 kg clean and jerk (new personal best) combined into 212 kg.

2016 Summer Olympics

In the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Diaz competed in her 3rd consecutive Olympics in the women's 53kg weightlifting category with the intention of at least winning a bronze medal. Diaz surpassed her own personal target and won the silver medal at the event, after successfully clinching a lift of 88 kg in her second attempt in snatch event (placed 6th) and 111 kg and 112 kg in the first and second attempts in the clean and jerk event (placed 2nd). This was the first medal for the Philippines in the Summer Olympics after 20 years. This was also the first non-boxing medal for the nation since 1936. Aside from being the first Filipina weightlifter to compete in three consecutive Olympics, she also became the first Filipino woman and the second person from Zamboanga and Mindanao to win an Olympic medal (after Simeon Toribio, bronze medal winner of men's high jump in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games).

On August 8, 2016, she returned to her hometown, Zamboanga City and was welcomed as a hero of the city. From receiving numerous incentives from the Philippine president, Philippine Sports Commission and her local city, she was able to buy land for her sibling and for her gym.

2018 Asian Games

Diaz participated in the women's 53 kg event in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Two months prior to the Asian Games, she recruited Gao Kaowen who was previously coach of the Chinese national women's army team. In the women's 53 kg in the 2018 Asian Games, Diaz had a total lift of 207 kg, beating Turkmenistan's Kristina Shermetova (206 kg) and Thailand's Surodchana Khambao (201 kg) to deliver the Philippines' first gold in the 2018 games, as well as being the first Filipino weightlifter of any gender to win a gold medal in the Asian Games.

2019–20 season

After winning a bronze in the 2017 World Championships, Diaz again won a bronze in the 2019 edition of the same event. She also won a silver in the 2019 Asian Championship, and another gold in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in Manila. In January 2020, Diaz won the gold medal in the women's 55 kg event at the Roma 2020 World Cup in Rome, Italy.