Asian Games 2023 weightlifting: Hidilyn Diaz finishes fourth in women's 59kg final
The Philippines' only Olympic gold medallist, now competing at a new weight class, puts on an impressive show but misses out on a medal in Hangzhou.
Weightlifting
Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines may not have won weightlifting gold at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou in the women's 59kg on Monday (2 October), but the Filipina said she will leave Hangzhou with good memories of representing her country.
She totalled 223kg, some 23kg behind winner Kim Il Gyong of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who also set a new snatch world record en route to lifting 246 kg in total.
Diaz, the Olympic champion at the lower 55kg category is competing in the higher weight as her previous event will be dropped from the Paris 2024 Olympics. Choosing to start at 94kg in the snatch, Diaz worked through her lift slowly but successfully.
She moved on to 97kg, which was also a good lift, albeit with more of a visible effort. But she missed her final attempt at 100kg, placing her fourth after the snatch category.
Her 97kg matched her performance from the World Championships a month ago.
Hidilyn began her clean-and-jerk lifts at 121kg and looked to have no problem at that weight, and even less of a problem on her second weight at 126kg – which surpassed her total from the Asian Championships in May.
However, the 32-year-old missed at 131kg. Despite dropping the barbell, she received a big cheer from her teammates and team officials as she left the stage.
Speaking to reporters later, she said: "I pushed myself to the limit to represent my country. I'm so happy to represent the Philippines. Because there's no Olympic weight for 55, I have to compete in the 59 – and I want to qualify for the Olympics and win gold for the Philippines in Paris.
"What gives me the motivation to continue even though I've been 21 years in the sport is my love for sport and to inspire young athletes."