Hidilyn Diaz wins Philippines’ first ever Olympic gold medal

Hidilyn Diaz overtook LIAO Qiuyun of the People’s Republic of China on her last lift in the clean and jerk to win with a total of 224 kilograms, one more than Liao.

She burst into tears and embraced her coaches after completing the record-breaking lift. She was seen holding her medal and pointing to the Philippines flag on her jersey.

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HISTORY MADE! 🥇

Hidilyn Diaz (Weightlifting) gives the Philippines its 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐋 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐥𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 with a win in the Women’s 55kg in Tokyo 2020! 🇵🇭 🏋🏼‍♀️

Mabuhay ka Hidilyn at ang #GalingngAtletangPililino! pic.twitter.com/7bLYNzVIvF

— Philippine Sports Commission (@psc_gov) July 26, 2021

Philippines Presidential spokesperson, Harry Roque, congratulated Diaz for “bringing pride and glory” to the island nation in a statement posted to Twitter. “The entire Filipino nation is proud of you,” he said.

Prior to Diaz’s gold, the South East Asian nation of roughly 108 million had claimed just 10 Olympic medals — 3 silvers and 7 bronzes.

She is among the number of athletes whose training ahead of the Games was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.